Please, Do Not Disturb.

If you don’t follow German politics, you might not be aware, but climate activists have been compared to extremist groups and even the Nazi regime (Weise, 2022). These statements were not issued by tabloids but leading politicians. It seems that protecting the Paris Climate Accords has become a totalitarian ideology in the eyes of some. While these critics claim they don’t want to take away protesters’ freedom of speech, more often than not, they demand tougher laws for those engaging in ‘civil disturbance’. Conservative politicians have gone so far as to publicly support police violence against climate activists and even the German president openly criticised the climate activists’ actions which – in his eyes – hurt the cause and won’t contain the climate crisis (Oelofse, 2022). Thank you, Steinmeier, for explaining to us that climate protests won’t immediately stop the melting of the polar caps, what a revelation.

Since the public and leading politicians seem to be on bad terms with climate activists, it’s of course in our interest to resolve this tension. This begs the question: How can those worried about the climate crisis voice their concerns without becoming an inconvenience to others? How can people who know that exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points (McKay et al., 2022) make the urgency known without annoying the public? Most of the political activism – from building treehouses to prevent coal mining to glueing oneself to the airport tarmac to protest air travel subsidies – has been criticised by the public or the authorities (Russell & Wecker, 2018). Thus, wouldn’t the perfect solution include ‘less drastic’ means, like peaceful climate protests every Friday – just a bunch of people coming together who make signs that highlight the urgency of the situation? Oh, I forgot, the critics weren’t happy at all about Greta Thunberg’s initiative (Leysen, 2019). How dare students miss school. Education is incredibly important, which must be why most critics didn’t give a damn about educational reforms in the years prior.

So, what does this leave us with if seemingly all forms of protests have resulted in at least some public groups feeling annoyed or upset? I guess with being polite, respectful, and voicing our concerns without making a scene. How about online petitions to save the environment! Because nobody likes people who aggressively make the urgency of the situation known! If we act like climate terrorists and disrespect our greatest artists like Van Gogh, maybe it is our fault that nobody wants to do anything against climate change?! Our actions are ridiculous – the soup, the peas, the milk, we are just wasting food. And the sit-ins, what are we even trying to reach by making people late for their appointments? They have worked hard to afford a life in which they can block out all the bad. We could also try to achieve something once in a while, why are we always just against everything! It’s fine if we try to improve society but we need to work together with the critics, in unison. Life requires us to make compromises and if they don’t want to restrict their or anybody else’s life to protect the planet, then we just have to meet somewhere in the middle. Where is the middle you ask? The middle is having a quick chat during Sunday’s barbecue, where every big change started.

While this might be the critics preferred way of climate activism – online petitions and chit-chat about the climate during Sunday’s barbecue – this won’t initiate change. And what we need is change! With the climate crisis being close to the point of no return, we need noise, disturbance, and political activism. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States as well as the Women’s Right Movement only got that far because of their protests and political activism. Thus, screw the critics! As we have seen over the years, there is no form of protesting which does not receive backlash. And honestly, I am fine with that. I would rather support ‘climate terrorists’ and be called one myself, than sit back, do nothing, and let the world burn – quite literally. Thus, be loud, be annoying, speak up, and most importantly of all, please DO disturb!