In Britain, more than two dozen scientists used superglue to attach research papers and their own hands to the windows of a government building in London on Wednesday, the latest in a series of climate protests led by scientists and the group Extinction Rebellion. The protest at the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy came after the United Nations warned countries must rapidly curb their use of fossil fuels to prevent average global temperatures from increasing by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is Cardiff University ecologist, Dr. Aaron Thierry.
Aaron Thierry: “I’m having to do this because our government is basically ignoring all the evidence. And we have tried all the rational, normal, evidence-based policy approaches, and they’re just not acting according to it. The government is insane, and I don’t know what else to do, other than to do this to try and get the attention that we need, to wake the public up.”
In another protest, Extinction Rebellion activists occupied the Shell Oil Company’s London headquarters on Thursday, supergluing themselves to the building’s entrances and reception desk to demand a meeting with Shell’s CEO. Last week, the U.K. government unveiled a new energy strategy that calls for more North Sea oil and gas development and a larger role for nuclear power. The U.K. is also considering ending a moratorium on fracking that’s been in place since 2019.