Britain leads the world for climate protest crackdowns

But instead of engaging with these activists, many governments are ramping up heavy-handed responses. Wealthy countries seem to be the least tolerant – Norway, for example, has an arrest rate of 15.1%.

The likes of Brazil, Peru, and Uganda, meanwhile, have much lower arrest rates but far higher levels of police violence. Over the same period, bleak figures reveal 2,000 environmental defenders were killed worldwide, according to NGO Global Witness.

New UK laws make protesting for the climate riskier than ever, too. The Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act 2021 – along with the ridiculous Public Order Act 2022 – has given police sweeping powers to crack down on demonstrations.

While some may see sense in stopping people from being able to chuck soup on age-old works of art or completely hold up the M1, the murky laws have also proven to be a thorn in the side of peaceful protesters. They’re too, facing harsher penalties.

Similar measures have been passed in nations like the US and Australia. In much of the developed world, existing laws are being twisted to target activists. In Spain, members of the environmental group Futuro Vegetal were charged under organized crime laws – in an overreach that experts have called alarming and disproportionate.

The study also highlights a difference in the kinds of protests being targeted.

‘Environmental protests’ often focus on specific destructive projects, like oil mining or construction. ‘Climate protests’ on the other hand, demand sweeping political change and are more common in wealthier countries.

Both types are being clamped down on, but the global south sees harsher violence while wealthier nations resort to arrests as their MO.

Overall, the crackdown spells out a grim truth we already knew. Governments are prioritizing silencing activism over addressing actual crises. Berglund warns this is part of a broader failure to take meaningful action on climate change, and the shambles that was COP29 doesn’t exactly point to the contrary.

The same government that proclaims to be a global leader and trailblazer for bold climate change initiatives just so happens to be arresting more protesters than anyone else.

Make sense of that, if you can.