Climate activists are increasingly engaging in civil disobedience, including disrupting key infrastructures or attempting to damage works of art as a form of protest — and there is a history of similar acts being used to send a strong political message. Alessio Terzi frames the recent phenomenon in a historical context and assesses its pros and cons.

Alessio

"Portrait of Carlyle by Millais damaged by butcher&rsquo;s cleaver; name given as Anne Hunt. Reopened East Wing at 12 noon to the public. [National] Gallery kept open." 
At a time when attacks on works of art by climate activists <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/here-is-every-artwork-attacked-by-climate-activists-this-year-from-the-mona-lisa-to-girl-with-a-pearl-earring-2200804">are commonplace</a>, <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/firstworldwarcentenary/explore/gallery-stories/suffragette-action">this headline</a> seems fully contemporary. Yet it dates back to July 17, 1914. Anne Hunt, the author of the attack, was an activist for women's voting rights. A few months earlier, on May 5 and 13, portraits of <a href="https://lifeandtimesofflorencenightingale.wordpress.com/suffragette-newspaper-index/suffragettes-may-13-1914/">Henry James and the Duke of Wellington</a> suffered similar treatment at the Royal Academy, while on March 10 it had been the turn of Diego Vel&aacute;zquez's <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26491421">Rokeby Venus</a>. 
In other words, it is not the first time that attacks on works of art are being used to send a strong political message. Framing the recent phenomenon in a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/26/1131377513/museum-protests-famous-artworks-history">historical context</a> allows us to assess its pros and cons, and consequently to make a reasoned judgment about the usefulness of civil disobedience in a climate crisis context.
<h2>Raising awareness on climate change</h2>
Starting with the cause, from gender equality to the urgency of combatting climate change, both deserve respect and utmost attention. Therefore, the goal of civil disobedience, back then and now, is to wake up, through inducing shock, a public that too often is apathetic, distracted or slumbering in everyday life. 
Viewed in this way, the mere fact that media outlets have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/arts/design/soup-van-gogh-sunflowers-climate.html">discussing the shock acts</a> could be interpreted as a success. And the fact these actions are led by young activists makes perfect sense. After all, t<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/climate/global-warming-ipcc-earth.html">he latest IPCC report</a> has powerfully illustrated how the world is sleepwalking towards climate catastrophe, and this will affect in particular generations who are currently in their youth. If indeed these acts help permanently re-tune public debates toward such momentous challenges as contrasting climate change, then civil disobedience of this kind should be encouraged by those who care about the environment and our future on this planet. To understand why, one must understand how the green transition will take place.&nbsp;
<h2>The mechanisms of the green transition</h2>
As I explain in depth in my recent book <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674258426">Growth for Good</a>, decarbonization will require a complete transformation of production and consumption, transport, agriculture, and even the shapes and materials of our homes. In essence, what we have in front of us is something resembling a <a href="https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/green-industrial-revolution-coming-0">Green Industrial Revolution</a> to be fast-tracked in the face of a deadline &ndash; 2050 &ndash; after which, scientists tell us, catastrophic chain events could be unleashed. 
Citizens have a key role to play in this transition. In the first instance, they can change their behaviors often with minimal impact on their own quality of life and a <a href="https://www.iea.org/articles/do-we-need-to-change-our-behaviour-to-reach-net-zero-by-2050">high impact on the environment</a>. Classic examples are using bicycles for short distances in the city, taking the train instead of a short-haul flight, or reducing meat consumption. If these things are not already happening, it is often because we make decisions out of inertia and not with the environment in mind on a daily basis.
Then there is a more systemic consideration. For the most part, zero-emission technologies, such as renewables, <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">already exist</a>&nbsp;to replace fossil fuel energy sources, but they require large upfront investments and generally initially imply higher prices for consumers. Only an environmentally-conscious consumer will see the green option as superior, and will therefore be willing to pay a price premium. However, this initial move by green (more affluent) consumers will lead <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2022/11/23/capitalism-does-not-require-a-tradeoff-between-planet-and-profit/">firms to compete</a> on that terrain, fostering innovation and cost reductions along so-called &lsquo;learning curves&rsquo;, making the transition affordable and <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2023/03/03/enrolling-capitalism-in-the-fight-against-climate-change/">possible for all</a>. This is somewhat what we are experiencing with electric cars, currently seen as top-of-the-line. As EVs gain market shares, they will go through a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/business/electric-vehicles-price-cost.html">price reduction</a> that will progressively allow the complete replacement of internal combustion engine cars.&nbsp;
Finally, at least in democracies, consumers are also citizens, and as such they vote in elections. Citizens who care more about climate issues will put governments in a position to <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/climate-change-democracy-vs-eco-authoritarianism-by-alessio-terzi-2022-08?barrier=accesspaylog">adopt public policies</a> designed to facilitate and accelerate the phenomena described above, both behavioral changes and green innovation. For example, policies may increase pedestrian and bicycle spaces in cities, expand the rail network, or increase taxation on CO2 emissions to further incentivize businesses to reinvent their production processes in a green way.&nbsp;
<h2>The usefulness of civil disobedience</h2>
To formulate an assessment of the usefulness of civil disobedience, the key question to ask is: are the shock actions of climate activists working in the direction of the Green Revolution thus described, or not? The answer would perhaps be best left to public opinion and survey experts and may vary from country to country. But I suspect there are limits to what we can expect from civil disobedience today. 
First, because a strategy that rests on shock actions requires constantly raising the bar higher and higher. If defacing a Van Gogh was enough the first time to land on the front page of the New York Times, what will be required in the future? The process effectively risks radicalization, as incidentally happened to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette_bombing_and_arson_campaign">Suffragettes</a> a century ago. Cleaver attacks on works of art were followed by damage at the expense of government buildings, post offices, churches, infrastructure, parcel bombs, arson and even assassinations. With this in mind, the success of Andreas Malm's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Blow_Up_a_Pipeline">recent book</a> How to Blow Up a Pipeline (just released as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/apr/23/how-to-blow-up-a-pipeline-review-eco-thriller-texas-oil">a movie</a> as well) should come as no surprise. While a tomato puree against a glass case may perhaps shock and arouse sympathy in a moderate audience, radicalization is generally accompanied by fear, criminalization and repression. Many <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924">historians</a> indeed suggest that even the Suffragette movement ended up rowing against its own cause.
Second, one must consider the broader context. The Suffragette movement in England decided to stop its activities with the country's entry into the Great War. In the United States, on the other hand, it decided to continue its disobedience activities, alienating them from more moderate public opinion. One wonders, then, whether activities to disrupt transport infrastructure, such as those we have recently seen on the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-protest-just-stop-oil-london-m25-uk-oil-gas-fossil-fuel-cop27/">M25 in London</a>, are not in danger of becoming increasingly unpopular at a time of conflict, energy crisis, inflation and collapse in purchasing power for many. It is perhaps no coincidence that Extinction Rebellion has recently announced that it will <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-01/extinction-rebellion-uk-to-stop-protests-that-disrupt-the-public">abandon its civil disobedience actions</a> in the UK in order to devote itself to broadening its base.&nbsp;
Lastly, even if disobedience actions continue to be limited to nonviolence, such as defacing buildings or works of art, I suspect they will garner more success and attention from those who are already environmentally conscious, and less from <a href="https://time.com/6233983/van-gogh-art-climate-protest-survey/">those who are not</a>. If so, their usefulness would be minimal. And the link to the climate cause is so tenuous that it does not immediately suggest how to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030142152030598X">change one's behavior</a>. "What does Van Gogh have to do with climate?" has been the reflection of many.&nbsp;
The green transition is a herculean transformation that cannot be implemented by any single actor in society but will require a joint effort. The actions of governments, businesses and citizens will be crucial building blocks for change. Whether or not civil disobedience is of help depends on whether and how it will influence them.
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The power and limits of radical activism against climate change

Critiques of current capitalism are omnipresent, typically focussing on the fact that the system is leading to widening inequalities, lavish unnecessary consumption by the rich, and the destruction of the environment. In an effort to combinedly address the three problems, many are calling for outright bans on lavish polluting activities such as private aviation. A clear understanding of how decarbonisation will credibly play out in this sector also holds the key to our green future, and the type of fixes that capitalism requires for the era of climate change.

Critiques of current capitalism are omnipresent, typically focussing on the fact that the system is leading to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/23/system-rigged-inequality-pandemic-despair-super-rich">widening inequalities</a>, lavish <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3e30a1b4-6838-493e-8ad8-a0387f58a272">unnecessary consumption</a> by the rich, and the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-value-of-a-whale-adrienne-buller-q-and-a/">destruction of the environment</a>. In an effort to combinedly address the three problems, many are calling for outright bans on lavish polluting activities such as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2022/11/16/will-climate-protestors-cancel-the-28-billion-private-jet-business">private aviation</a>. A clear understanding of how decarbonisation will credibly play out in this sector also holds the key to our green future, and the type of fixes that capitalism requires for the era of climate change.
With their huge carbon footprint, and being the purview of the ultra-wealthy, private jets represent the perfect lightning rod for the critiques of modern-day capitalism. After all, the <a href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/202209_private_jets_FINAL_with_addendum.pdf">average jet owner</a> has a net worth of €1.3bn, many VIPs have been shown to take flights <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/21/kylie-jenner-short-private-jet-flights-super-rich-climate-crisis">under 20 minutes</a>, and they emit between <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2022/09/13/the-environmental-impact-of-private-jets-is-largely-underestimated_5996731_23.html">5-14 times</a> more CO2 per passenger kilometre than commercial aviation. Within Europe, private jet usage <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/flying-shame-the-scandalous-rise-of-private-jets">peaks during the summer</a>, with some of the most popular destinations being Ibiza or the Côte d’Azur, suggesting indeed their use would hardly qualify as a societal priority. Several <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/05/its-time-to-ban-private-jets-or-at-least-tax-them-onto-the-ground">commentators</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/climate-activists-least-13-countries-protest-private-jets-rcna56666">activists</a>, and <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20221111-french-scientists-call-for-ban-on-private-jets-a-symbol-of-climate-inequality">scientists</a> have therefore been calling for an outright ban on private jets, based on the principled stance that they are useless, marginally benefitting the few, for the detriment of the many, and the planet. The ban should act as a symbol, at a time when the wider population is being asked for daily sacrifices like reducing their meat consumption or taking public transport for the sake of the environment.
While overall aviation makes up for <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation">approximately 2.5%</a> of global GHG emissions, private jets account for just around <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307779?via%3Dihub">4% of that</a>. In other words, a ban would hardly make a dent in a sector that is expanding at a fast clip (<a href="https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/aviation">5% per year</a>, between 2000 and 2019), due to the broadening use of commercial flights, which account for 88% of total emissions. Certainly, given the scales involved, it is not as if the carbon budget of the private rich jetsetters can be simply redistributed to the rest of us. On the other hand, on the path to net zero, the theory of change accompanying a private jet ban is that progressively wider parts of the population will voluntarily sacrifice flying, or otherwise be compelled to do so by regulation. By extension, voluntary abstention or bans should apply to other blatant sources of pollution, be they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/07/a-deadly-problem-should-we-ban-suvs-from-our-cities">large SUVs</a>, excessively <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/16/german-green-mp-calls-for-ban-on-new-urban-single-family-houses">large houses</a>, far-away holidays, and <a href="https://environment.co/cruise-ships-banned/">cruise ships</a>. In other words, this is a worldview that sees voluntary demand reduction, and coercion when that is not sufficient, as the chief way to restore the balance with nature, often framing it as a critique of ‘never-ending economic growth’.
On the other side of the fence sit those who believe that, while voluntary behavioural change is commendable and to be encouraged, it will hardly represent the bulk of the green transition. Waiting for everybody to embrace all of a sudden a principle of sufficiency is a road to nowhere. When that is the case, a jungle of bans and prohibitions awaits us in a post-growth world that would rapidly <a href="https://the-european.eu/story-29211/degrowth-would-lead-to-authoritarianism.html">turn dystopian</a>.
Luckily, some of the perverse dynamics of capitalism can be turned virtuous. Specifically, the great riches of the few can be leveraged to ease the green transition of the many. For this to happen, however, the wealthy must be nudged towards investing in pioneering green technologies through a mix of taxation and smart regulation. In this respect, private jets represent a perfect example. The median distance for intra-EU private flights is <a href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021_05_private_jets_FINAL.pdf">less than 500km</a>, with an average of 4.7 passengers per flight. What this implies is that private jets are the ideal entry point for zero emission aviation, be it electric or hydrogen, which initially will need to fly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hyrdrogen-electric-flight-zeroavia-zero-emission-commercial-aviation/">small planes over short distances</a>. In order to favour these nascent industries, one could envision an eclectic mix of policies, ranging from an increase in jet fuel taxation, to an obligation of using (the more expensive) <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01046-9">Sustainable Aviation Fuel</a>. Eventually, even a ban on short-distance fossil-fuel private jets could also be envisioned, in line with the spirit of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/24/california-ban-sales-gas-powered-cars-2035">California’s ban</a> on the sale of internal combustion engine cars from 2035.
Once private funds start flowing to zero emission aviation, and production ramps up, efficiency gains will be observed along so-called ‘learning curves’. Innovative solutions will be developed and scaled to larger planes, helping to crack the difficult task of decarbonising aviation. And prices for these technologies will start falling too, along so-called ‘cost curves’, eventually making the green option and the cheap option coincide. This is the exact dynamic we have observed for wind and solar energy, which were initially much more expensive than the fossil-fuel alternative, but <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-30/new-us-solar-and-wind-cost-less-than-keeping-coal-power-running">no longer so</a>. This is also what we are observing with electric vehicles, currently the purview of the better off, but likely to reach price parity with internal combustion engine cars within the <a href="https://www.faistgroup.com/news/ice-evs-price-point-perspective/">next 1-2 years</a>, in what will effectively amount to technology-induced redistribution from the rich to the middle-class.
As economic historian Roger Fouquet <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421510004921">has documented</a>, most energy transitions of the past have followed this exact logic, be it from animals to steam, from steam to electricity, or from residential coal to gas in heating. A new better technology becomes available but is initially more expensive. A small portion of the market is willing to pay more for it. As it invests in it, the new technology gets refined to the point where it can compete with the incumbent energy source. When price parity is reached, the transition spreads across society at an exponential rate. There is no reason to believe decarbonisation in the 21st century will follow a different path. This is hardly a call for the magical forces of the market to solve climate change alone, nor an endorsement of laissez faire capitalism. As illustrated by the example of private jets, taxation, regulation and occasionally even bans can be part of the policy toolkit, but should serve the purpose of greasing the wheels of innovation, fast-tracking decarbonisation towards the objective of net zero by mid-century. Capitalism has proven to be an efficient machinery at fostering innovation in general, but it must now be enrolled to join the fight against climate change.
illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability &amp; Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.
<h6>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@cleipelt?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Chris Leipelt</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/6w_dYdazo20?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>​ </h6>

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Alessio Terzi

Alessio Terzi

The power and limits of radical activism against climate change

Enrolling capitalism in the fight against climate change

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