Increasing Climate Discontent: Monitoring Rising Discord
In the rapidly changing climate landscape, protests against government policies and corporate practices that contribute to environmental degradation have become a global phenomenon. Here's a roundup of some notable climate protests that made headlines in 2022.
Protesters in Hungary and Brazil took to the streets to prevent their governments from relaxing anti-logging restrictions, while in the Netherlands, demonstrators pushed their government to drop plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by forcing farms to keep fewer livestock. These actions were part of a broader movement, as climate activism in Europe increasingly focused on banning Russian gas imports to benefit Ukraine and the climate.
In Germany, climate protesters are trying to stop the expansion of a coal mine in the town of Lützerath, and in the Czech Republic, tens of thousands of protesters objected to EU efforts to curb fossil fuels, arguing they were contributing to inflation.
Transnational protest movements like Fridays for Future, the Global Climate Strike, and the Scientist Rebellion attracted participants in dozens of countries. Protests in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and other European capitals are likely to increase as the transnational impacts of climate policy become clearer.
Small-scale climate policy protests were highly visible and controversial in 2022, including occupying U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office, throwing soup on priceless paintings in the UK, blocking highways in Australia, and sabotaging cement plants in France.
Climate change is affecting nearly every area of international politics, serving as a guiding principle for the Carnegie's Climate Protest Tracker and Carnegie's Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics program. The tracker identified nearly two dozen climate protests in at least forty-one countries.
In Iran, protesters demonstrated against the government's mismanagement of water resources after a severe drought, but it's unclear whether their protests were more about resources or the government's broader failure to adopt policies to respond to a changing climate.
In Egypt, a public protest during COP27 demanded that rich nations compensate lower-income countries suffering from climate change. A proposed tax on biogenic methane in New Zealand spurred protests by the country's farmers.
Formal networks and groups have been instrumental in driving climate activism, with labor unions, political parties, activist networks, and environmental NGOs playing significant roles in organizing demonstrations. Protesters may oppose foreign taxes on the carbon embedded in exports, export bans on key battery metals, or foreign decisions to spray tiny particles into the atmosphere to dim the sun.
As the perceived stakes of climate policy continue to surge, activism around climate is all but certain to continue to grow. The Climate Protest Tracker is a one-stop source for following political disruption in the Anthropocene, providing valuable insights into the global climate activism landscape. The organizers of the climate protests in the EU against the import of Russian gas refer to the need to support the people of Ukraine and simultaneously promote climate protection by pushing for an exit from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, emphasizing that reducing reliance on Russian gas also accelerates the transition to renewable energy and helps combat the climate crisis.
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