Climate activists in “Britain” have disrupted football, cricket, golf, snooker, tennis and other sports events in their protest actions; But how effective is their direct action and how have people reacted? Britain has seen a summer of civil disobedience, with an unprecedented number of “guerrilla” tactics and protests at major sporting events (mostly by climate change activists and campaigners) across the geography. As “Antonio Guterres” (UN Secretary General) warned that the earth has reached its boiling point; The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed that the world experienced its warmest Northern Hemisphere summer last month. For groups like JSO (Just Stop Oil), which was created in 2022 and wants the UK government to stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects; “Civil disobedience” has increasingly become their weapon of choice.
They last year; When their members protested at several Premier League football matches (including Everton’s dramatic win over Newcastle) and one of the protestors attached himself to the goal post with a police zipper handcuff!
In recent months, JSO activists have staged mass protests at Lord’s Cricket Ground (London), the World Snooker Championships (Sheffield) and the British Grand Prix (Northamptonshire). They disrupted the second round of the Ashes Test (a major cricket tournament) and the Open Championship (a major golf tournament). In July, a protester hurled orange confetti (shredded paper, plants or small pieces of metal usually thrown at parties) and wood shavings onto Court 18 of Wimbledon. And it also provoked public anger. “James Skeet”; A JSO spokesperson has admitted that the group “deliberately” targets well-respected sporting events! Referring to the civil rights movement in the United States and the struggle for minority rights, he says: “Every social movement in history that has achieved valuable achievements has done so through destructive tactics. What we intend to do is to put the issue at the forefront of public awareness and on the agenda of the media. If millions of eyes are not staring at you, you are not important in the field of achieving social change! But how effective is direct action? Is this how people (at least in the UK) have come to terms with their favorite sporting events being disrupted? The report of September 17, 2023 by Al Jazeera media has answered these questions.
After the UK government announced in July that it would grant hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licenses “to boost Britain’s energy independence and grow the economy”, a YouGov online poll in August found that people there see climate change and the environment as key issues. Knows. In this action, 82% of 2069 adults were surveyed, of which 68% were dissatisfied with the JSO group and its tactics.
The findings follow another YouGov poll in February, in which 78% of those surveyed thought direct action would “impede the logical course of action rather than solve problems”. In this regard, “Sket” believes: “Many may argue that such conflicts give the opposite result. People may to some extent shoot us their opinions like bullets in Messenger; But finally, the JSO tactic will lay the foundation for the formation of some kind of activism. Even if the talks about our demand to remove oil and gas form a small percentage, it is a victory for us. Some experts say that there is a contradiction between what people and the media say about “disruptive protests” and what academics think about it. In a specialized survey of 120 academics who research social movements, 69 percent said they believed that “disruptive protest” is an effective “tactic” for an issue like climate change; which is a sign of “deep disagreement” between experts and media in this regard. James Osden, director of the Social Change Lab, a protest think tank, said, referring to research on what makes some social movements successful (as opposed to unsuccessful): “According to the evidence; destructive and disruptive weather protests; “helps to highlight the issue, attract public opinion or encourage people to support climate groups”; Some experts say that such protests can be effective in big sports events; Of course, if high-ranking figures declare their support publicly.
It was following the JSO protests at “Wimbledon” that “Gary Lineker” (sports presenter and former British soccer player) defended these activists in an interview with the “Channel 4” television program and said that he “admires their determination despite knowing that they will be arrested”; Or Coco Gough (US Open winner), sympathizing with protesters who disrupted her semi-final match against Karolina Muchova in a post-victory news conference, saying, “I believe in climate change!” Victoria Spicer (Professor of Sustainability Research at the University of Leeds) says: “Successful social movements usually have powerful or well-known and respected allies outside the movement who can expand the reach and influence of the movement to the general public and reinforce the intended message of the movement. do and give it legitimacy”. At the same time, the JSO’s tactics have been particularly harshly criticized by senior politicians. “The chaos we’ve seen on our streets has been a scandal,” said Suella Braverman (British Home Secretary) in July when she announced that police powers would be expanded under the new Public Order Act. People have had enough of their lives disrupted by selfish protesters.” Amendments to the Public Order Act by him make it a criminal offense in the UK to “lock out” (protesters attach themselves to people, structures, objects or buildings) protest action. Braverman’s statements were weeks before Matt Twist; The assistant commissioner of the “Metropolitan Police” revealed in a statement that JSO’s anti-police protests cost the MPS (the name of the center) more than $9.6 million in a 13-week period!
In the run-up to the next UK general election, climate change is high on the agenda for UK voters. In July 2022, temperatures of 40 degrees were recorded in Britain, and the Met Office there issued the first “red alert” for “exceptional heat”, and this is while there is “growing despair” about the actions of the “British” government on climate change. Although Britain, during the time of Theresa May (former Prime Minister), accepted the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050; But the Supreme Court ruled in July 2022 that the strategy, which sets out plans to decarbonize the economy, violates climate change law. John Gummer, in his final letter as head of the UK’s climate change committee, said in June that the government had lost global “climate leadership” due to a “failure to act decisively on the energy response”. Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said that although he does not approve of direct action; But condemning politicians is not the solution. Gamer says :”I have to say to Braverman and others like him, the first thing you have to do is recognize that these are the actions of people who feel that the democratic system has failed them and will not serve them,” he explains. “Before you jump into condemnation, just understand why people feel they have to go to these extremes.” One question is: What are the tactics of groups like JSO? “Democratic system is the only way we’re going to get it, The problem with extreme tactics is that they backfire, meaning people focus on the tactics instead of the reason for the tactics, and that’s exactly what Braverman did.”
But the spokesperson of the ministry of this country believes: “The right to protest is an essential part of our democracy; But we must also protect the right of the law-abiding majority to go about their daily lives. The law of public order creates new criminal offenses and appropriate punishments for selfish and guerilla protest techniques.
Most of the protest groups in the field of climate change in “Britain” have attracted the media attention they wanted; what now In recent months, there has been a divergence of tactics in the environmental movement between more radical groups taking disruptive actions like JSO and others moving toward less destructive and more inclusive tactics. In January 2023, the environmental campaign Extinction Rebellion called for a temporary halt to the high-profile demonstrations that have gained media attention in recent years through direct protests against climate change on major roads, airports and other public transport networks. In April, the group launched a four-day action in which thousands of people demonstrated outside Parliament against the British government’s inaction on global warming, with the intention of “empathy” during the London Marathon. Instead, XR (Extinction Rebellion; global environmental movement) didn’t make headlines because of its reckless march! But surprisingly, Hugh Brasher (event manager of the London Marathon), announced that the group would help protect the event. They had been in contact with the police for months before the marathon, and in a statement they announced that many charities had donated to disaster relief and development charities such as Oxfam were essentially “already on the frontline of the effects of climate change!” According to “Yaz Ashmawi”; physicist who now plans XR protests; Instead of creating an “attack” against activists as a “strategy”, they should move towards creating more inclusive and safer environments for different groups to unite and protest together in order to have an “ecology of movements” and “rich alliances”. He says: “Non-violent actions will always be part of the plans of the XR group; But the importance of the weather issue is so great that we need the presence of more people. What we do is to decentralize our work as much as possible and strengthen social groups throughout the country; Therefore, we have a system of local groups that organize public assemblies to bring people together to discuss issues related to environmental crises.”
Last year, with the JSO announcing that it would not interfere with the London Marathon, a major rift appeared to have emerged in the tactics of the JSO and XR. Meanwhile, a JSO protester at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield jumped on the table and threw a packet of orange confetti into the air, causing tension and disrupting the match. “Skeet” says about this: “This incident became the headline and front page photo of every important newspaper. We fully accept that we will be unpopular. We are not a political party. We are not looking to win the elections. History has always shown that a relatively small group of people change society, and then society catches up.”
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