On Friday March 3, young people were invited to demonstrate on the occasion of a day of global climate strike organized by Fridays for future, the movement launched by Greta Thunberg in 2018. Dutch researcher Joost de Moor, assistant professor of science policies at Sciences Po Paris, analyzed in several studies the relationship to time of climate activists, and in particular the tension between feeling it’s too late and continuing with the action.
What conclusions can we draw from the climate movement in recent years?
The movements, particularly Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion, are credited with bringing large numbers of activists into the climate policy, and often quite radical forms of it, even though the there has recently been a decline in mobilization levels. After Covid-19, only the most experienced activists tended to return to the streets. They have diversified their targets and their tactics.
More broadly, the movement has raised awareness about climate change. At European level, it has also contributed to putting the climate issue on the political agenda., which, together with other factors, led to the Green Deal [politique européenne visant à atteindre la neutralité carbone pour 2050] and on victories for certain political parties, such as the Greens in Germany. However, in other countries, such as the United Kingdom or Sweden, climate change has hardly weighed in recent elections. Climate activists have also secured the adoption of climate emergency declarations, but these have had little impact. In general, despite some important steps in the right direction, emissions continue to increase.
But we have to be realistic about what we can expect from climate movements. They can be an important piece of the puzzle, creating the conditions necessary for transformations to occur, but they alone cannot be the saviors of humanity. The elites and the masses must also be actively involved.
Does this movement manage to define a clear strategy?
Globally, the climate movement shares some fundamental visions of a desirable future: ensuring an equitable distribution of the costs and the fight against climate change, supporting indigenous communities in their protection of nature, finding meaning beyond consumerism, etc. However, very few activists seem to know how to achieve this, which often leaves them feeling fatalistic and hopeless. It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
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