Following publication of the UK government’s energy security strategy, on Wednesday 13 April, a group of scientists pasted scientific papers and glued themselves to the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in an act of civil disobedience to highlight the scientific evidence that the Government is ignoring. 

More than 20 scientists, assisted by doctors and nurses, participated in the protest. Nine of us scientists were arrested. Eight were held in custody just short of 24 hours and one was held in custody for several days. We have all been charged with criminal damage and have all pleaded Not Guilty.

We come from across the spectrum of scientific disciplines, we are experts in conservation science, air quality, social science, ecology, biology and psychology. We believe we have a moral duty not just to document the natural world, but also to help protect it and this is what we were doing by taking action at BEIS.

"As scientists, we are trained to understand the evidence of the climate and ecological crisis. In my work, I witness the damage on a day to day basis. This is why I felt compelled to demand that the government look at the science that they are ignoring"
Ben Benatt, Ecologist.

Our trials at the magistrates' court are an opportunity to prove that we are not the guilty party and to highlight again the inadequacy of the government's strategy. And we have a great team of lawyers to help us!

Why we took action

The International Energy Agency, a respected policy advisory body to countries around the world, warned in 2021 that “if governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.”

Early April 2022, the world’s scientists released the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that sounded a final alarm for the planet. It unequivocally warned us that we must end our addiction to fossil fuels now.

However, rather than focusing on home insulation, energy efficiency and onshore wind, the UK Government’s new energy security strategy is to promote new oil and gas exploration with the intention of extracting every last drop.

The science tells us very clearly that this approach will lead us to a catastrophic outcome.
We explain why we took action here.

"The public needs to be alerted to the dissonance between the government's claim that they are committed to limiting warming to 1.5°C and their continued fossil fuel expansion. As scientists we have a duty to expose these destructive policies."
Dr Aaron Thierry, Ecologist.

Why are we raising money?

Raising money through crowdfunding will help some of us to pay our legal defence costs. We will still have to pay our own fines and court costs. We are not using the XR Legal Defence Fund as that resource is limited and other climate defenders desperately need it.

Crowdfunding provides a tangible way for friends, family and members of the public to express their support for our action. Every donation, small or large, is greatly appreciated and any money in excess of our legal defence costs will go towards the XR Legal Defence Fund.

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Thank you so much for your ongoing support and we will keep you updated with the developments from our trials on this page.

Scientists for XR.