Chris Packham has urged Brits to continue the fight for climate justice following ‘draconian attacks’ on the right to protest.
In an interview with The London Economic, the broadcaster and popular conservationist said the government had passed legislation to ‘scare people off the streets’.
His comments come just days after Just Stop Oil protester Stephen Gingell received a “shock” six month jail sentence for peacefully slow marching on a major London road along with 40 others in November.
The campaign group Lawyers are Responsible said the sentence showed “the increasingly repressive environment that people find themselves in when they take entirely peaceful action to express concern about the climate and ecological crisis.”
Police were given expanded powers to deal with protesters in July, including measures designed to target activists who stop traffic and major building works to stop ‘disruption from a selfish minority’.
Calls for measures to tackle the climate crisis have increased significantly in recent months following the actions of protest groups such as Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain.
According to a YouGov poll published in June, more than half said they felt negatively about the future of the environment, while a separate survey released in October found two-thirds of Brits want the UK to lead the world on climate change. ,
Packham’s comments come just days after the conclusion of the 28th Conference of the Parties in Expo City, Dubai, which saw states approve a climate disaster “loss and damage fund”.
The former Autumn Watch presenter took aim at the talks, describing Cop28 a ‘wasted opportunity’ for world leaders to make progress on solutions to the climate crisis.
For the conservationist, who recently led a protest by more than 100 scientists in Westminster to demand an end to future licenses for oil and gas, it’s crucial campaigners find creative ways of highlighting the need for climate justice.
“Our system is set up to disempower people. We’ve now got draconian protest bills which are there to scare people off the streets. They’re going to get arrested if they carry a placard stating the law on it. In the case of jurors and their right to acquit on conscience you can get arrested for wearing a t shirt,” he said.
“We can’t afford to be scared off the streets. We’ve got to stand up, we’ve got to shout above the noise, we’ve got to exercise what remains of that right to protest, and we’ve got to find imaginative and creative ways of doing that.
“We bring more people to our cause, they understand it, they want to get behind it. And that’s why people like myself and many others – we can’t be lazy, we’ve constantly got to be thinking about how can we reach out, how can we move into a part of our culture where I’m not talking to.
He added: “I’m Chris Packham, I’m principally known if at all for an interest in wildlife and natural world environment, so on and so forth. What about sport? What about music? What about art, about dance? What about everything else?
“We need people there because that’s an enormous part of our lives. And all of those people are as involved in and as vulnerable as I am. But at the moment, we’ve not been clever enough. And we need to make sure that we we enhance our ability to spread the truth.
Watch the full clip below:
Related: Sunak clashes with UN over long sentences for climate protesters
