climate movement

In 1962, Rachel Carson(a marine biologist, writer, and conservationist) wrote Silent Spring, which served as a powerful exposé on the environmental devastation, caused by indiscriminate pesticide use, and the government’s failure to protect public health and wildlife.{{Cite journal |last=Carson |first=Racheal |date=2017-01-03 |title=Silent Spring—II |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/06/23/silent-spring-part-2 |journal=Newyorker}} Carson states that more state regulation is required to protect public health and wildlife. The work's critiques of the lack of state provisioning in the American water, and air sector which advanced the global environmental movement.

Since the early 1970s, climate activists have called for more effective political action regarding climate change and other environmental issues. In 1970, Earth Day was the first large-scale environmental movement that called for the protection of all life on earth.{{Cite journal |last=Thomson |first=Jennifer |date=2014 |title=A History of Climate Justice |url=https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/a-history-of-climate-justice/ |journal=The Solutions Journal |volume=5 |pages=89–92 |archive-date=2020-08-10 |access-date=2023-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810090739/https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/a-history-of-climate-justice/ |url-status=live }} The Friends of Earth organization was also founded in 1970.{{Cite book |title=Routledge handbook of the climate change movement |date=10 January 2014 |others=Dietz, Matthias., Garrelts, Heiko. |isbn=978-1-135-03886-1 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |oclc=869543253}}

Activism related to climate change continued in the late 1980s,{{Cite book |last=Hadden |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/networks-in-contention/2686C0383A92F6A2F58C23399448E511 |title=Networks in Contention: The Divisive Politics of Climate Change |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-08958-7 |pages=91 |quote=Environmental activists first became interested in transnational coordination on climate issues in the late 1980s |archive-date=2024-12-07 |access-date=2022-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207091108/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/networks-in-contention/2686C0383A92F6A2F58C23399448E511 |url-status=live }} when major environmental organizations became involved in the discussions about climate, mainly in the UNFCCC framework. Whereas environmental organizations had previously primarily been engaged at the domestic level, they began to increasingly engage in international campaigning.

The largest transnational climate change coalition, Climate Action Network, was founded in 1992.{{Cite book |last=Hadden |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/networks-in-contention/2686C0383A92F6A2F58C23399448E511 |title=Networks in Contention: The Divisive Politics of Climate Change |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-08958-7 |pages=45, 93–141 |archive-date=2024-12-07 |access-date=2022-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207091108/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/networks-in-contention/2686C0383A92F6A2F58C23399448E511 |url-status=live }} Its major members include Greenpeace, WWF, Oxfam and Friends of the Earth. Climate Justice Now! and Climate Justice Action, two major coalitions, were founded in the lead-up to the 2009 Copenhagen Summit.

Between 2006 and 2009, the Campaign against Climate Change and other British organisations staged a series of demonstrations to encourage governments to make more serious attempts to address climate change.

The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen was the first UNFCCC summit in which the climate movement started showing its mobilization power at a large scale. According to Jennifer Hadden, the number of new NGOs registered with the UNFCCC surged in 2009 in the lead-up to the Copenhagen summit. Between 40,000 and 100,000 people attended a march in Copenhagen on December 12 calling for a global agreement on climate.{{cite news |date=13 December 2009 |title=Climate activists condemn Copenhagen police tactics |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8410414.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215101510/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8410414.stm |archive-date=15 December 2009}} Activism went beyond Copenhagen, with more than 5,400 rallies and demonstrations took place around the world simultaneously.{{cite news |date=26 October 2009 |title=International day of demonstrations on climate change |work=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/24/international.climate.change.demonstrations/ |archive-date=27 October 2009 |access-date=30 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027062303/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/24/international.climate.change.demonstrations/ |url-status=live }}

In 2019, activists, most of whom were young people, participated in a global climate strike to criticise the lack of international and political action to address the worsening impacts of climate change.{{Cite news |date=2019-09-20 |title=Protesting Climate Change, Young People Take to Streets in a Global Strike |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/climate/global-climate-strike.html |access-date=2020-05-21 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2021-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309015031/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/climate/global-climate-strike.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |date=2019-09-07 |title="When the Bombs Drop, School Stops" - Over 100 years ofAustralian School Strikes and Direct Action |url=https://commonslibrary.org/when-the-bombs-drop-school-stops-eight-decades-of-australian-school-strikes-and-direct-action/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU |archive-date=2025-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131042902/https://commonslibrary.org/when-the-bombs-drop-school-stops-eight-decades-of-australian-school-strikes-and-direct-action/ |url-status=live }} Greta Thunberg, a young activist from Sweden, became a figurehead for the School Strike For Climate movement.

{{Quote box

| quote = Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals, but the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.

| author = António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

| source = 2022{{Cite news |author=Peter Kalmus |title=Climate scientists are desperate: we're crying, begging and getting arrested |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/06/climate-scientists-are-desperate-were-crying-begging-and-getting-arrested |work=The Guardian |date=6 April 2022 |access-date=1 May 2022 |archive-date=6 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406202121/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/06/climate-scientists-are-desperate-were-crying-begging-and-getting-arrested |url-status=live }}

| width = 300px

}}

{{multiple_image |total_width=450

|image1= 20230321 Effectiveness of techniques to motivate climate mitigation action - bar chart.svg |caption1= Presenting data and other facts is less effective in motivating people to act to mitigate climate change, than financial incentives and social pressure involved in showing people climate-related actions of other people.{{cite journal |last1=Bergquist |first1=Magnus |last2=Thiel |first2=Maximilian |last3=Goldberg |first3=Matthew H. |last4=van der Linden |first4=Sander |title=Field interventions for climate change mitigation behaviors: A second-order meta-analysis |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=21 March 2023 |volume=120 |issue=13 |page=e2214851120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2214851120 |pmid=36943888 |pmc=10068847 |bibcode=2023PNAS..12014851B }} (Table 1)
— Explained by {{cite magazine |last1=Thompson |first1=Andrea |title=What Makes People Act on Climate Change, according to Behavioral Science |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-makes-people-act-on-climate-change-according-to-behavioral-science/ |magazine=Scientific American |date=19 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421034858/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-makes-people-act-on-climate-change-according-to-behavioral-science/ |archive-date=21 April 2023 |url-status=live }}

| image2= 20230612 Predictors of changing opinions about global warming - survey.svg |caption2= The strongest factors in self-reported changes in opinion about global warming were Republican party identification, seeing others experience impacts of global warming, and learning more about global warming.Data from {{cite web |last1=Allew |first1=Matthew |last2=Marlon |first2=Jennifer |last3=Goldberg |first3=Matthew |last4=Maibach |first4=Edward |last5=Rosenthal |first5=Seth |last6=Aiken |first6=Emily |last7=Leiserowitz |first7=Anthony |display-authors=4 |title=Experience with global warming is changing people's minds about it |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/experience-with-global-warming-is-changing-peoples-minds-about-it/ |publisher=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531182758/https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/experience-with-global-warming-is-changing-peoples-minds-about-it/ |archive-date=31 May 2023 |date=27 September 2022 |url-status=live }} ● Full technical article (pay wall): {{cite journal |last1=Allew |first1=Matthew |last2=Marlon |first2=Jennifer |last3=Goldberg |first3=Matthew |last4=Maibach |first4=Edward |last5=Rosenthal |first5=Seth |last6=Aiken |first6=Emily |last7=Leiserowitz |first7=Anthony |display-authors=4 |title=Changing minds about global warming: vicarious experience predicts self‑reported opinion change in the USA |journal=Climatic Change |date=4 August 2022 |volume=173 |issue=19 |doi=10.1007/s10584-022-03397-w |bibcode=2022ClCh..173...19B |s2cid=251323601 |url=https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10584-022-03397-w |archive-date=12 June 2023 |access-date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612183448/https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10584-022-03397-w |url-status=live }} (Fig. 2 on p. 12) ([https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GL3GXIKsE30aklRsDmYm6OX5ul_VME2k/view preprint] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612183443/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GL3GXIKsE30aklRsDmYm6OX5ul_VME2k/view |date=2023-06-12 }})

}}

These are several approaches that have been used in the past by climate advocates and advocacy campaigns:

• the provision of information,
• framing of information about aspects of global climate change, and
• challenging the terms of political debates.

All three of these methods have been implemented in climate campaigns aimed at the general public.{{Cite web |last=Hartley |first=Sophie |date=2023-10-10 |title=Climate Activism : Start Here |url=https://commonslibrary.org/climate-activism-start-here/ |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}} The information about the impacts of global climate change plays a role in forming climatic beliefs, attitudes, and behavior, while the effects of other approaches (e.g. provision of information about solutions to GCC, consensus framing, use of mechanistic information) is yet mostly unknown.{{Cite journal|last1=Skalík|first1=Jan|last2=Chabada|first2=Tomáš|last3=Urban|first3=Jan|date=2018-12-28|title=Effects of information-based interventions and framing interventions on attitudes to climate change and mitigation behavior|url=https://envigogika.cuni.cz/index.php/Envigogika/article/view/563|journal=Envigogika|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|doi=10.14712/18023061.563|issn=1802-3061|doi-access=free|archive-date=2020-07-28|access-date=2019-03-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728160728/https://envigogika.cuni.cz/index.php/Envigogika/article/view/563|url-status=live}} The third approach is to create space for discussions that move beyond questions of economic interests that often dominate political debates to emphasize ecological values and grass-roots democracy. This has been argued to be crucial to bringing about more significant structural change.{{Cite journal|last=Holdo|first=Markus|title=Sincerity as Strategy: Green Movements and the Problem of Reconciling Deliberative and Instrumental|journal=Environmental Politics|language=en|volume=28|issue=4|doi=10.1080/09644016.2018.1457294|doi-access=free}} Some politicians, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger with the slogan "terminate pollution", say that activists should generate optimism by focusing on the health co-benefits of climate action.{{Cite web |date=2021-07-01 |title=Schwarzenegger: climate activists should focus on pollution |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/schwarzenegger-climate-activists-should-focus-on-pollution-arnold-schwarzenegger-pollution-vienna-greta-thunberg-donald-trump-b1876308.html |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109031104/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/schwarzenegger-climate-activists-should-focus-on-pollution-arnold-schwarzenegger-pollution-vienna-greta-thunberg-donald-trump-b1876308.html |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Ende Gelände 2016|Ende Gelände 2017|Ende Gelände 2018|Ende Gelände 2019|Extinction Rebellion}}

Climate disobedience is a form of civil disobedience, deliberate action intended to critique government climate policy. In 2008, American climate activist Tim DeChristopher posed as a bidder at an auction of US Bureau of Land Management oil and gas leases of public land in Utah, won the auction, reneged on payment, and was imprisoned for 21 months. In September 2015, five climate activists known as the Delta 5 obstructed an oil train in Everett, Washington. At trial, the Delta 5 were allowed the necessity defense, that is, breaking a law in the service of preventing a greater harm. After testimony, the judge determined the grounds for the necessity defense were not met and instructed the jury to disregard testimony admitted under the necessity defense. The Delta 5 were fined for trespassing but were acquitted of more serious charges.{{cite news |title=How to Stop an Oil Train: The Hearts-and-Minds Climate Defense That Won Over a Courtroom |magazine=Yes! |first=Valerie |last=Schloredt |date=January 21, 2016 |url=http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/how-to-stop-an-oil-train-20160121 |access-date=January 29, 2016 |archive-date=January 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130021723/http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/how-to-stop-an-oil-train-20160121/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Historic Trial Lets Activists Who Blocked Oil Train Cite Climate Change Threat in Their Defense |first=Amy |last=Goodman |date=January 11, 2016 |access-date=January 29, 2016 |work=Democracy Now! |publisher=Pacifica Radio |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/11/historic_trial_lets_activists_who_blocked}}{{cite news |title=Act Now, Cry Later: Tim DeChristopher, Aria Doe & Josh Fox on Civil Disobedience & Climate Activism |first=Amy |last=Goodman |date=January 26, 2016 |access-date=January 29, 2016 |work=Democracy Now! |publisher=Pacifica Radio |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/26/act_now_cry_later_tim_dechristopher}}{{cite web |title=Trial for Climate Activists Protesting "Bomb Trains" Carrying Oil Makes Legal History |date=January 28, 2016 |access-date=January 29, 2016 |url=http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/2016/01/28/shifting-attitudes-toward-climate-activists-call-attention-to-important-questions-are-their-actions-part-of-the-problem-or-part-of-the-solution-to-the-problem-of-g/ |publisher=Climate Science and Policy Watch |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201170619/http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/2016/01/28/shifting-attitudes-toward-climate-activists-call-attention-to-important-questions-are-their-actions-part-of-the-problem-or-part-of-the-solution-to-the-problem-of-g/ |url-status=live }}

The first example of a judge accepting the climate necessity defense was on March 27, 2018 when Judge Mary Ann Driscoll acquitted all 13 defendants of civil charges from a protest held in 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite web|last1=Marcum|first1=Marla|title=Exciting News from West Roxbury|url=http://www.climatedisobedience.org/exciting_news_from_west_roxbury|website=Climate Disobedience|access-date=28 March 2018|archive-date=28 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328103232/http://www.climatedisobedience.org/exciting_news_from_west_roxbury|url-status=dead}}

{{Further|Climate emergency declaration}}

File:Climate-Change-Denial-Is-Unbearable.svg

Enacting a state of emergency may be composed of two elements: declaring a state of emergency that has formulated real-world i.e. legal effects and the associated enabling or ensuring of rapid complementary large-scale changes in human activity for the articulated purposes. To date, many governments have acknowledged, sometimes in the form of tentative text-form "declarations", that humanity is essentially in a state of climate emergency.

In November 2021 Greta Thunberg with other climate activists begun filing a petition to the United Nation calling it to declare a level 3 global climate emergency. This should lead to the creation of a special team that will coordinate the response to the climate crisis in the international level. The response should be at least as strong as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Bryant |first1=Miranda |date=10 November 2021 |title=Youth activists petition UN to declare 'systemwide climate emergency' |agency=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/10/youth-activists-petition-un-to-declare-systemwide-climate-emergency |access-date=12 November 2021 |archive-date=21 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221110541/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/10/youth-activists-petition-un-to-declare-systemwide-climate-emergency |url-status=live }}

It has been proposed that the national security sector could play a unique role in the development of a global climate-emergency mobilisation of labour and resources to build a zero-emission economy and enact decarbonization.{{cite web |last1=Spratt |first1=David |last2=Dunlop |first2=Ian |title=Existential climate-related security risk: A scenario approach |url=https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/148cb0_b2c0c79dc4344b279bcf2365336ff23b.pdf |access-date=20 December 2021 |publisher=Breakthrough – National Centre for Climate Restoration |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405044904/https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/148cb0_b2c0c79dc4344b279bcf2365336ff23b.pdf |url-status=live }}

Commentators and The Climate Mobilization have suggested mobilisation of resources on the scale of a war economy and other related exceptional or effective measures.{{cite web |date=2 November 2021 |title=Beware: Gaia may destroy humans, before we destroy the Earth {{!}} James Lovelock |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/02/beware-gaia-theory-climate-crisis-earth |access-date=24 March 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Frangoul |first1=Anmar |date=1 November 2021 |title=Prince Charles calls for 'war-like footing' in speech at pivotal COP26 climate change summit |language=en |work=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/01/prince-charles-calls-for-war-like-footing-in-speech-at-cop26.html |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324123706/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/01/prince-charles-calls-for-war-like-footing-in-speech-at-cop26.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=20 October 2021 |title=Think big on climate: the transformation of society in months has been done before {{!}} George Monbiot |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/20/us-war-footing-1941-climate-emergency-earth-pearl-harbor |access-date=24 March 2022}}{{cite news |date=3 March 2022 |title=How to fight an economic war |language=en |work=www.businessgreen.com |url=https://www.businessgreen.com/blog/4045943/fight-economic-war |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324100959/https://www.businessgreen.com/blog/4045943/fight-economic-war |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Bonn |first1=Tess |date=3 July 2019 |title=Climate scientist calls for 'world war type mobilization' to combat climate change |language=en |work=TheHill |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/451497-climate-scientist-michael-mann-calls-for-world-war-type-mobilization-to-combat |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324123641/https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/451497-climate-scientist-michael-mann-calls-for-world-war-type-mobilization-to-combat |url-status=live }}

{{ multiple image | total_width=450

| image1 = 20240625 Global warming across generations - warming stripes.svg |caption1= Global warming—the progression from cooler historical temperatures (blue) to recent warmer temperatures (red)—is being experienced disproportionately by younger generations.{{cite web |title=Warming Across Generations |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/warming-across-generations |publisher=Climate Central |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613055205/https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/warming-across-generations |archive-date=13 June 2024 |date=22 March 2023 |url-status=live}}

• Data source for global average surface temperature: {{cite web |title=Global temperature / Global mean temperature |url=https://climate.metoffice.cloud/temperature.html |publisher=Met Office (Meteorological Office, UK ) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117053030/https://climate.metoffice.cloud/temperature.html |archive-date=17 January 2024 |date=2024 |url-status=live}} (scroll down to Berkeley Earth under Global Mean Temperature)
• Warming stripes concept by climatologist Ed Hawkins

| image2= 1960- Probability of exposure to unprecedented heat waves, by year of birth and global warming scenario -- SVG ARC statements.svg |caption2= Successive generations are predicted to experience progressively greater unprecedented lifetime exposure (ULE) events such as heat waves. About 111 million children born in 2020 will live with unprecedented heatwave exposure in a world that warms by 3.5 °C, compared with 62 million with only 1.5 °C of warming.{{cite journal |last1=Grant |first1=Luke |last2=Vanderkelen |first2=Inne |last3=Gudmundsson |first3=Lukas |last4=Fischer |first4=Erich |last5=Seneviratne |first5=Sonia I. |last6=Thiery |first6=Wim |title=Global emergence of unprecedented lifetime exposure to climate extremes |journal=Nature |date=7 May 2025 |volume=641 |pages=374-379 |doi=10.1038/s41586-025-08907-1|pmc=12058528 }}

}}

{{Main|Climate justice}}

Shifting away from a focus on impacts on the natural environment, in recent years people have called on decision-makers to move towards equitable mitigation strategies for all people.{{Cite web|title=Climate Equality: A Planet For the 99%|publisher=Oxfam|date=November 2023|url=http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Climate%20Equality.pdf|access-date=24 November 2023|archive-date=5 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205071813/http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Climate%20Equality.pdf|url-status=live}}Islam, S. Nazrul. "Climate Change and Social Inequality"(PDF). Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Archived(PDF) from the original on 16 January 2019. Climate justice acknowledges that some regions and populations are more vulnerable to climate change than others,{{Cite web |date=2020-07-29 |title=What is 'climate justice'? » Yale Climate Connections |url=http://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/what-is-climate-justice/ |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=Yale Climate Connections |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218200402/https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/what-is-climate-justice/ |url-status=live }} and that in addressing climate solutions we must consider "existing vulnerabilities, resources and capabilities."{{Cite web |title=What is climate justice? {{!}} Climate Just |url=https://www.climatejust.org.uk/what-climate-justice |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=www.climatejust.org.uk |archive-date=2021-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214203613/https://www.climatejust.org.uk/what-climate-justice |url-status=live }} A study of 800 websites and documents from Australian environmental groups identified six different dimensions of climate justice including Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice, Recognition Justice, Relational Justice, Intergenerational Justice, and Transformative Justice.{{Cite web |last1=Vachette |first1=Astrid |last2=Gulliver |first2=Robyn |last3=Boddington |first3=Sarah |date=2023-09-19 |title=Climate Justice : What does it mean? |url=https://commonslibrary.org/climate-justice-what-does-it-mean/ |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU |archive-date=2024-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331110940/https://commonslibrary.org/climate-justice-what-does-it-mean/ |url-status=live }}

In the United States, organizations such as the Climate Justice Alliance work towards the goal of resilient economies and communities, placing "race, gender and class at the center of the solutions" by working to unite the voices of frontline communities.{{Cite web |title=About - Climate Justice Alliance |url=https://climatejusticealliance.org/about/ |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=climatejusticealliance.org |archive-date=2021-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214203603/https://climatejusticealliance.org/about/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Climate change litigation}}

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In some countries, those affected by climate change may be able to sue major greenhouse gas emitters. Litigation has been attempted by entire countries and peoples, such as Palau{{cite web |date=10 August 2012 |title=Video: Paradise lost? – Need to Know |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-paradise-lost/14421/ |publisher=PBS |quote=Palau suing the industrialized countries over global warming |access-date=15 November 2022 |archive-date=30 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030163556/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-paradise-lost/14421/ |url-status=dead }} and the Inuit,[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6908719/site/newsweek/ Inuit suing the US in regards to global warming] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825135526/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6908719/site/newsweek/|date=25 August 2010}} as well as non-governmental organizations such as the Sierra Club.{{cite web |title=Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club Announce Plans to Sue EPA Unless It Revises Nitrogen Oxide Emissions Standard, Curbs Nitrous Oxide Pollution Linked to Global Warming – NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com - |url=http://www.newson6.com/story/9138384/environmental-integrity-project-sierra-club-announce-plans-to-sue-epa-unless-it-revises-nitrogen-oxide-emissions-standard-curbs-nitrous-oxide?clienttype=printable |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111204839/http://www.newson6.com/story/9138384/environmental-integrity-project-sierra-club-announce-plans-to-sue-epa-unless-it-revises-nitrogen-oxide-emissions-standard-curbs-nitrous-oxide?clienttype=printable |archive-date=11 January 2016 |access-date=19 February 2013}} Investor-owned coal, oil, and gas corporations could be legally and morally liable for climate-related human rights violations.{{cite web |title=Science Hub for Climate Litigation {{!}} Union of Concerned Scientists |url=https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/science-hub-climate-litigation |access-date=7 November 2021 |website=www.ucsusa.org |language=en |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107172631/https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/science-hub-climate-litigation |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=12 December 2020 |title=As South Africa clings to coal, a struggle for the right to breathe |url=https://grist.org/justice/as-south-africa-clings-to-coal-a-struggle-for-the-right-to-breathe/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |website=Grist |language=en-us |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107172632/https://grist.org/justice/as-south-africa-clings-to-coal-a-struggle-for-the-right-to-breathe/ |url-status=live }} Litigations are often carried out via collective pooling of effort and resources such as via organizations like Greenpeace,{{cite web |date=29 November 2018 |title=Greenpeace threatens to sue coal utility in Poland |url=https://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/11/29/greenpeace-threatens-sue-coal-utility-poland/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |website=Climate Home News |language=en |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107172633/https://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/11/29/greenpeace-threatens-sue-coal-utility-poland/ |url-status=live }} which sued a Polish coal utility and a German car manufacturer.{{cite news |title=Greenpeace Germany sues Volkswagen over carbon emissions targets |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/09/business/volkswagen-climate-greenpeace-lawsuit/index.html |access-date=11 November 2021 |archive-date=10 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110065700/https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/09/business/volkswagen-climate-greenpeace-lawsuit/index.html |url-status=live }}

Proving that some weather events are due specifically to global warming is now possible, and methodologies have been developed to show the increased risk of other events caused by global warming.Stott, et al. (2004), "Human contribution to the European heatwave of 2003", Nature, Vol. 432, 2 December 2004

For a legal action for negligence (or similar) to succeed,{{Clarify|reason=in most countries?|date=August 2022}} "Plaintiffs ... must show that, more probably than not, their individual injuries were caused by the risk factor in question, as opposed to any other cause. This has sometimes been translated to a requirement of a relative risk of at least two."Grossman, Columbia J. of Env. Law, 2003 Another route (though with little legal bite) is the World Heritage Convention, if it can be shown that climate change is affecting World Heritage Sites like Mount Everest.{{cite web |date=17 November 2004 |title=Climate change 'ruining' Everest |url=http://www.heatisonline.org/contentserver/objecthandlers/index.cfm?id=4950&method=full |access-date=26 August 2010 |publisher=Heatisonline.org |archive-date=17 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153639/http://www.heatisonline.org/contentserver/objecthandlers/index.cfm?id=4950&method=full |url-status=live }}[https://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2004/11/041117_climate-belize.shtml Climate change 'ruining' Belize] BBC November 2004

Besides countries suing one another, there are also cases where people in a country have taken legal steps against their own government.[http://www.climatelaw.org/cases Climate Justice] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618125305/http://www.climatelaw.org/cases|date=18 June 2019}} Ongoing Cases

In the Netherlands and Belgium, organisations such as the foundation Urgenda and the Klimaatzaak{{Cite web |last=Climat |first=Klimaatzaak/L'Affaire |title=L'Affaire Climat |url=https://affaire-climat.be/ |access-date=28 December 2020 |website=L'Affaire Climat |archive-date=17 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117212720/https://affaire-climat.be/ |url-status=live }} in Belgium have also sued their governments as they believe their governments are not meeting the emission reductions they agreed to. Urgenda have already won their case against the Dutch government.{{cite news |date=20 December 2019 |title=Activists Cheer Victory in Landmark Dutch Climate Case |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/20/business/bc-eu-netherlands-climate-case.html |url-status=live |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221020329/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/20/business/bc-eu-netherlands-climate-case.html |archive-date=21 December 2019 |via=Associated Press}}

In 2021, Germany's supreme constitutional court ruled that the government's climate protection measures are insufficient to protect future generations and that the government had until the end of 2022 to improve its Climate Protection Act.{{Cite web |last=Connolly |first=Kate |date=29 April 2021 |title='Historic' German ruling says climate goals not tough enough |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/29/historic-german-ruling-says-climate-goals-not-tough-enough |access-date=1 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=29 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429134710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/29/historic-german-ruling-says-climate-goals-not-tough-enough |url-status=live }}

Held v. Montana was the first constitutional law climate lawsuit to go to trial in the United States, on June 12, 2023.{{cite news |last1=Noor |first1=Dharna |title=Young Montana residents bring climate change case to court for first time ever |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/12/montana-young-residents-first-ever-climate-change-trial |newspaper=The Guardian |date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612103609/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/12/montana-young-residents-first-ever-climate-change-trial |archive-date=12 June 2023 |url-status=live }} The case was filed in March 2020 by sixteen youth residents of Montana, then aged 2 through 18,{{Cite news |last1=Uyeda |first1=Ray Levy |title=Fossil fuels v our future: young Montanans wage historic climate fight |newspaper=The Guardian |date=April 13, 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/13/young-people-montana-fossil-fuels-climate-crisis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310133419/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/13/young-people-montana-fossil-fuels-climate-crisis |archive-date=March 10, 2023 |url-status=live }} who argued that the state's support of the fossil fuel industry had worsened the effects of climate change on their lives, thus denying their right to a "clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations"{{cite web |title=The Constitution of the State of Montana |url=https://courts.mt.gov/external/library/docs/72constit.pdf |website=courts.mt.gov |publisher=Montana Judicial Branch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528082413/https://courts.mt.gov/external/library/docs/72constit.pdf |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |date=March 22, 1972 |url-status=live }}^{:Art. IX, § 1} as required by the Constitution of Montana.{{Cite news |last1=Gelles |first1=David |title=In Montana, It's Youth vs. the State in a Landmark Climate Case |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 24, 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/climate/montana-youth-climate-lawsuit.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614235620/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/climate/montana-youth-climate-lawsuit.html |archive-date=June 14, 2023 |url-status=live |issn=0362-4331 }} On August 14, 2023, the trial court judge ruled in the youth plaintiffs' favor, though the state indicated it would appeal the decision.{{cite news |last1=Hanson |first1=Amy Beth |last2=Brown |first2=Matthew |title=Young environmental activists prevail in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana |url=https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-youth-montana-trial-c7fdc1d8759f55f60346b31c73397db0 |work=AP News |date=August 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817023428/https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-youth-montana-trial-c7fdc1d8759f55f60346b31c73397db0 |archive-date= August 17, 2023 |url-status=live }} Montana's Supreme Court heard oral arguments on July 10, 2024, its seven justices taking the case under advisement.{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Matthew |last2=Hanson |first2=Amy Beth |title=Republicans urge reversal of landmark ruling in Montana climate change lawsuit by young plaintiffs |url=https://apnews.com/article/youth-climate-lawsuit-montana-supreme-court-faece0aec42abc7f5302c40e31faacea |work=AP News |date=July 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711020853/https://apnews.com/article/youth-climate-lawsuit-montana-supreme-court-faece0aec42abc7f5302c40e31faacea |archive-date=July 11, 2024 |url-status=live }} On December 18, 2024, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the county court ruling.{{cite news |last1=Zraic |first1=Karen |title=Youth Climate Activists Get Major Win in Montana Supreme Court |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/climate/held-montana-youth-climate-lawsuit.html |work=The New York Times |date=18 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219000610/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/climate/held-montana-youth-climate-lawsuit.html |archive-date=19 December 2024 |url-status=live }}

In May 2021, in Milieudefensie et al v Royal Dutch Shell, the district court of The Hague ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its global carbon emissions by 45% by the end of 2030 compared to 2019 levels.{{Cite web |last=Boffey |first=Daniel |date=26 May 2021 |title=Court orders Royal Dutch Shell to cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/26/court-orders-royal-dutch-shell-to-cut-carbon-emissions-by-45-by-2030 |access-date=28 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}

{{Excerpt|Fossil fuel divestment|paragraphs=1-2|file=no}}

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The divestment movement against fossil fuels has shed a different light on conversations surrounding fossil fuel finance. Banks and investors have been increasingly questioning the viability of the fossil fuel sector in the long-term. This is because this disinvestment movement is stigmatizing fossil fuels and is raising uncertainty around continued use of fossil fuels, thus reducing the financial desirability of fossil fuel assets. Because the extraction, exploration, and mining of fossil fuels are all capital-intensive activities, uncertainty around their financial risks can reduce investment. If there is a reduction in the supply of capital or a rise in the costs of capital, fossil fuel projects will end up being uneconomical. This will make the valuation of fossil fuel companies go down making them to go out of the market.{{Cite web |last=Carlin |first=David |title=The Case For Fossil Fuel Divestment |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidcarlin/2021/02/20/the-case-for-fossil-fuel-divestment/ |access-date=2021-12-17 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

The main argument behind fossil fuel divestment campaigns is that earning profits from investments in activities associated with fossil fuels is unethical as fossil fuel emissions are the primary drivers responsible for global climate change.{{Citation |last=Thomä |first=Jakob |title=The stranding of upstream fossil fuel assets in the context of the transition to a low-carbon economy |date=2018-05-11 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315651606-5 |work=Stranded Assets and the Environment |pages=111–124 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315651606-5 |isbn=9781315651606 |access-date=2021-12-17}} Fossil Fuel divestment campaigns such as the Go Fossil Free campaign by 350.org are pleading with the investors to divest by immediately freezing any new investments that they might make in any fossil fuel companies and to divest from any direct ownership and commingled funds, such as fossil fuels public equities together with corporate bonds, in the next five years.

Fossil fuel divestment campaign have three primary aims. One of them is to pressure government across the globe to put legislation in place including carbon tax or banning any further drilling of fossil fuels. The second aim is to pressure fossil fuel companies to enact transformative change in their companies by switching to forms of energy supply that are less carbon-intensive in nature. The third aim is to ensure transparency when it comes to the carbon exposure that is caused by fossil fuel companies and also to put pressure on governments across the globe to play an active role in restricting the extraction of fossil fuels.

Fossil fuel divestment campaigns thus seek to cut everything that would be required for the growth and survival of the fossil fuel industry.{{Cite book |last1=Cheon |first1=Andrew |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781351173124 |title=Activism and the Fossil Fuel Industry |last2=Urpelainen |first2=Johannes |date=2018-02-06 |isbn=9781351173124 |doi=10.4324/9781351173124}} These include the social license that this industry requires to operate, the political license that the fossil fuel industry needs to grow and to survive, and the financial investments that support its existence, survival, and growth.{{Cite journal |last=Ayling |first=Julie |date=October 2017 |title=A Contest for Legitimacy: The Divestment Movement and the Fossil Fuel Industry |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lapo.12087 |journal=Law & Policy |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=349–371 |doi=10.1111/lapo.12087 |issn=0265-8240 |s2cid=158445903}} These campaigns also seek to pressure governments to play their role in trying to limit emissions. In these campaigns, campaigners demand so see that the public institutions server their ties that they have always had with this fossil fuel industry for the main purpose of tarnishing the reputation of the fossil fuel industry and to challenge the power that the industry has.{{Cite journal |last=Lenferna |first=Alex |date=2018-11-22 |title=Divest–Invest: A Moral Case for Fossil Fuel Divestment |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198813248.003.0008 |journal=Oxford Scholarship Online |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198813248.003.0008}} By doing these, these campaigners thus want to starve fossil fuel companies of the badly needed capital and to remove both the infrastructure and the influence that this industry has.{{Cite journal |last=Gunningham |first=Neil |date=October 2017 |title=Building Norms from the Grassroots Up: Divestment, Expressive Politics, and Climate Change |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12083 |journal=Law & Policy |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=372–392 |doi=10.1111/lapo.12083 |issn=0265-8240 |hdl=1885/233159 |s2cid=158122688|hdl-access=free }}

Divestment campaigns have been used for a variety of social justice issues in the past. For example, divestment campaigns have been launched to end investment in South Africa during apartheid, Israel, and Sudan, and against the tobacco industry. Most recently, divestment campaigns have focused on private prisons and the fossil fuel industry. These divestment calls have received a lot of attention with varying outcomes.{{Cite journal |last=Apfel |first=Daniel C. |date=2015 |title=Exploring Divestment as a Strategy for Change: An Evaluation of the History, Success, and Challenges of Fossil Fuel Divestment |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44282147 |journal=Social Research |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=913–937 |issn=0037-783X |jstor=44282147 |archive-date=2021-12-17 |access-date=2021-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217035052/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44282147 |url-status=live }}

The good news for the fossil fuel divestment campaigns is that their strategy could be effective. This owes to the fact that there has been an increase in the fossil fuel divestment commitments since 2000. These divestment commitments have resulted in reductions in the flow of capital into the gas and oil sector, as experienced in 33 countries across the globe between the years 2000 and 2015. Research has found that increasing gas and oil divestment pledges in various countries has also been influenced by divestment campaigns. More stringent environmental policies have also been enacted by regimes that recognize climate change as a threat to their country.{{Cite journal |last1=Cojoianu |first1=Theodor F |last2=Ascui |first2=Francisco |last3=Clark |first3=Gordon L |last4=Hoepner |first4=Andreas G F |last5=Wójcik |first5=Dariusz |date=2021-02-23 |title=Does the fossil fuel divestment movement impact new oil and gas fundraising? |url=https://academic.oup.com/joeg/article/21/1/141/6042790 |journal=Journal of Economic Geography |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=141–164 |doi=10.1093/jeg/lbaa027 |issn=1468-2702 |doi-access=free |archive-date=2021-12-17 |access-date=2021-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217035052/https://academic.oup.com/joeg/article/21/1/141/6042790 |url-status=live }}

Fossil fuel divestment has indeed gained remarkable traction over the last few years. It has transformed from being a fringe idea to becoming a movement currently valued at around $14.5 trillion. It has over one thousand endowments, pension plans, and major investors committed. It has made many of today’s retail investors and institutional investors channeling their money towards environmentally conscious funds.

Sustained hunger striking, although used in several social justice campaigns in the 19th and 20th{{nbsp}}centuries, was (possibly) first{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} employed as a climate tactic in Berlin, Germany in 2024 under the banner of Starve until you are honest.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

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This type of citizen activism is important to creating a path to systemic change that will benefit the environment. This change can be assisted through government involvement by way of making more environmentally-conscious policies and all-encompassing changes that will be needed to make substantial environmental change. Different strategies, actions, and systems are used by citizen environmental activists for the purpose of supporting and in some cases demanding these environmental changes. There are however, issues that this type of activism faces. Issues such as potential decline in favorability and participation in environmental movements in BRIC countries, barriers to environmental citizen involvement and mobilization, and divergence in goals between environmental movements.

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Individual, voluntary activism is not enough to make a substantial difference in prominent climate change issues, systematic change is.{{Cite journal|last=BOOTH|first=CAROL|date=November 2012|title=Bystanding and Climate Change|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41714201|journal=Environmental Values|volume=21|issue=4|pages=397–416|doi=10.3197/096327112X13466893627987|jstor=41714201|s2cid=143856521|issn=0963-2719|archive-date=2021-12-16|access-date=2021-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081652/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41714201|url-status=live}} Carol Booth puts forward that the harm in "bystanding to inadequate laws, policies and programs warrant greater moral concern" than individual harm by way of personal emissions and similar negative actions contributing to climate change (pg. 412). In order for emissions reduction, one of many climate change issues, to occur at a scale that has positive environmental effects government action will be needed. Overall, environmental reform is best supported and advanced by activism and movements.{{Cite journal|last=Buttel|first=Frederick H.|date=September 2003|title=Environmental Sociology and the Explanation of Environmental Reform|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1086026603256279|journal=Organization & Environment|volume=16|issue=3|pages=306–344|doi=10.1177/1086026603256279|s2cid=19010923|issn=1086-0266}} Frederick Buttel theorizes that the reasons for this are that environmental activism and movements fight back against countermovement groups and that they ensure responsibility in regards to environmental protection.

Government systems can both shape and constrain what public activists are able to do, particularly systems found in countries like the U.S and European Union.{{Cite journal|last=Bomberg|first=Elizabeth|date=May 2012|title=Mind the (Mobilization) Gap: Comparing Climate Activism in the United States and European Union: Comparing Climate Activism|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2012.00566.x|journal=Review of Policy Research|language=en|volume=29|issue=3|pages=408–430|doi=10.1111/j.1541-1338.2012.00566.x|hdl=10.1111/j.1541-1338.2012.00566.x|hdl-access=free|archive-date=2021-12-16|access-date=2021-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081653/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2012.00566.x|url-status=live}} Constraints come from institutional aspects of the government systems that make it difficult to produce legislation and other prominent changes that fight against climate change issues. The progression of mobilization in some cases depends on activists to find ways to move past barriers found in these government systems. The general public has influence over certain outcomes. "...[L]atent civic behavior, attitudes towards society, and historical patterns of expectations for institutional performance can exert surprisingly important influence on political, and even economic outcomes(pg. 33).{{Cite journal|last=PRESS|first=DANIEL|date=1998|title=Local Environmental Policy Capacity: A Framework for Research|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24888443|journal=Natural Resources Journal|volume=38|issue=1|pages=29–52|jstor=24888443|issn=0028-0739|archive-date=2021-12-16|access-date=2021-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216081705/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24888443|url-status=live}} When looking at Californian policy, it was found that the influence of citizen activism leads to systematic choices that are favorable to the environment from influential and powerful members, like policy and community figureheads.

A 2023 review study published in One Earth stated that opinion polls show that most people perceive climate change as occurring now and close by. The study concluded that seeing climate change as more distant does not necessarily result in less climate action, and reducing psychological distancing does not reliably increase climate action.{{cite journal |last1=van Valkengoed |first1=Anne M. |last2=Steg |first2=Linda |last3=Perlaviciute |first3=Goda |title=The psychological distance of climate change is overestimated |journal=One Earth |date=21 April 2023 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=362–391 |doi=10.1016/j.oneear.2023.03.006 |bibcode=2023OEart...6..362V |s2cid=258281951 |url=https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00140-9 |archive-date=5 May 2023 |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505012139/https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00140-9 |url-status=live }}

Different strategies, systems, and actions are utilized in public environmental activism. Certain actions may be unavailable to different types of public activists depending on economic standpoint.

Erik Wright's theories of social transformation were used to analyze environmental movements and in part the actions that these movements took in their activism that connected to Wright's "transformational strategies".{{Cite journal|last1=Stuart|first1=Diana|last2=Gunderson|first2=Ryan|last3=Petersen|first3=Brian|date=2020-05-28|title=The climate crisis as a catalyst for emancipatory transformation: An examination of the possible|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0268580920915067|journal=International Sociology|volume=35|issue=4|pages=433–456|doi=10.1177/0268580920915067|s2cid=219738689|issn=0268-5809}} This includes "interstitial strategies", which are strategies that try to alter or challenge the current system, are seen in citizens actions like buying more efficient appliances and other environmentally-friendly focused consumer actions. "Ruptural strategies" "smash the current system through confrontation". Strategies like these connect to the practice in environmental movement to hold protests and resistance demonstrations. Lastly, "symbiotic strategies" are focused on collaboration through social reformation such as promoting and reforming policy to prioritize the climate's health as opposed to profit. Other types of strategies that citizen activists take are "awareness building, alliance building, and network foundation." "Conservation behavior", the public's willingness to life more environmentally-sustainable lifestyles, has been seen to become increasingly more popular both in developed and "developing democracies."{{Cite journal|last=Dalton|first=Russell J.|date=2015-07-04|title=Waxing or waning? The changing patterns of environmental activism|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2015.1023576|journal=Environmental Politics|language=en|volume=24|issue=4|pages=530–552|doi=10.1080/09644016.2015.1023576|bibcode=2015EnvPo..24..530D|s2cid=154234797|issn=0964-4016|archive-date=2022-03-03|access-date=2021-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303042908/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2015.1023576|url-status=live}} In an examination of the BRIC countries, of which they are still considered developing, it is posited that if work being done by environmentalists in these countries is seen as not enough, citizens may take it upon themselves to "turn their efforts to lifestyle adjustments as an alternative form of contribution."{{Cite journal|last=Lo|first=Alex Y|date=December 2016|title=Public support for environmental organisations in BRIC countries: Public support for environmental organisations in BRIC countries|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geoj.12163|journal=The Geographical Journal|language=en|volume=182|issue=4|pages=438–443|doi=10.1111/geoj.12163|hdl=10722/236450|hdl-access=free}}

The United States' "citizen suit provision" is a type of system that is accessible for the use in public environmental activism.{{Cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=Tseming|last2=Zhang|first2=Xuehua|date=2011|title=Public Participation in Environmental Enforcement . . . with Chinese Characteristics?: A Comparative Assessment of China's Environmental Complaint Mechanism|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1920611|journal=SSRN Electronic Journal|doi=10.2139/ssrn.1920611|s2cid=153575974|issn=1556-5068}} These are used in many major U.S environmental laws, are important to environmental enforcement, and deter noncompliance from agencies at fault as well as demonstrate public interest and demand. Another environmental system is "China's environmental complaint system". This system takes in citizen's reports of violations in regards to environmental issues and is used typically for the public to voice "concerns and frustrations with environmental problems and has been successful in promoting environmental awareness and engaging the public"(pg 330). The study suggested that "the role of public participation is greatly dependent on the broader governance [system] within which it is embedded, and that channeling environmental activism into [government] can significantly influence its effectiveness"(pg 326).

{{ multiple image |total_width=450

| image1= 2022 Pew survey - is climate change a major threat - 19 nations.svg |caption1= In this 2022 Pew survey, respondents from almost half the countries ranked climate change as being highest of five threats in the survey.{{cite web |last1=Poushter |first1=Jacob |last2=Fagan |first2=Moira |last3=Gubbala |first3=Sneha |title=Climate Change Remains Top Global Threat Across 19-Country Survey |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/08/31/climate-change-remains-top-global-threat-across-19-country-survey/ |website=pewresearch.org |publisher=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831225832/https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/08/31/climate-change-remains-top-global-threat-across-19-country-survey/ |archive-date=31 August 2022 |date=31 August 2022 |url-status=live }} — Other threats in the survey were: spread of false information online, cyberattacks from other countries, condition of the global economy, and spread of infectious diseases.

| image2= 202406 Peoples' Climate Vote 2024 - UNDP.svg | caption2= In a UNDP survey covering 77 countries, most respondents from top fossil fuel-producing countries favored a quick transition away from fossil fuels.{{cite web |title=Peoples' Climate Vote 2024 / Results |url=https://peoplesclimate.vote/document/Peoples_Climate_Vote_Report_2024.pdf |publisher=United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) |page=68 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620101100/https://peoplesclimate.vote/document/Peoples_Climate_Vote_Report_2024.pdf |archive-date=20 June 2024 |date=20 June 2024 |url-status=live }} (from p. 16: "Seventy seven countries were chosen to provide results for the different regions of the world, representative of a huge majority (87 percent) of the world’s population.")

}}

Public activism faces challenges due to differences in economic development as well as differences in government and law. There have been "signs of declining confidence and membership in environmental [organizations]" in the BRIC countries as well as "barriers to public involvement and social [mobilization] due to close monitoring and censorship, notably in China and Russia. Issues facing more long-term environmental discourse are feelings of unconcern and helplessness are cited as obstacles that public activist groups face in trying to promote change. In addition, mainstream environmental movements are "increasingly being challenged by environmental counter-movements"(pg 309). There are also many different goals and gaps between these types of movements, as well as barriers to producing an effective, influential message to inspire other to enact change. This prevents a solid, widespread message and specific goal from all environmental groups being produced.

The United States government through its domestic intelligence services targeted, as "domestic terrorists," environmental activists and climate change organizations, including by investigating them, questioning them, and placing them on national "watchlists" that makes it more difficult for them to board airplanes and that could instigate local law enforcement monitoring.The Guardian, 24 Sept. 2019, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/23/revealed-how-the-fbi-targeted-environmental-activists-in-domestic-terror-investigations?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other "Revealed: How the FBI Targeted Environmental Activists in Domestic Terror Investigations: Protesters Were Characterized as a Threat to National Security in What One Calls an Attempt to Criminalize their Actions"] Unknown actors also secretly hired professional hackers to launch phishing hacking attacks against climate activists who were organizing the [[ExxonMobil climate change controversy|

#ExxonKnew campaign]].The Guardian, 11 June 2020, [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/11/exxon-hack-for-hire-climate-activists-campaign?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other "Hack-for-Hire Group Targeted Climate Activists behind #ExxonKnew Campaign"] On September 16, 2022, over fifty climate protesters were arrested and jailed in the U.K. for blocking roads, with many of them going through court hearings, and some being released on bail. Alice Reid, a spokesperson for the group [https://rebelsinprison.uk/ Rebels in Prison Support], claims that many of these protestors are young adults with no connection to the judicial system before becoming activists.{{Cite web |last=Macalister |first=Terry |date=2022-09-23 |title=UK climate activists held in jail for up to six months before trial |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/23/uk-climate-activists-held-in-jail-for-up-to-six-months-before-trial |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Since the late 2010s individual activists in Australia have been targeted by corporate strategic lawsuits against public participation and most states have increased penalties for business interference or trespassing as well as criminalised the use of specific devices used to attach protesters to infrastructure or equipment. In some situations courts have dismissed cases brought under the new laws or freed prisoners upon appeal.{{Cite web |last=Gulliver |first=Robyn |date=2024-02-18 |title=Climate Activists in Australia are Learning How to Protect their Protest Rights |url=https://commonslibrary.org/climate-activists-in-australia-are-learning-how-to-protect-their-protest-rights/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU |archive-date=2024-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240401123809/https://commonslibrary.org/climate-activists-in-australia-are-learning-how-to-protect-their-protest-rights/ |url-status=live }}

{{See also|People's Climate March (2014)|Global Climate March|People's Climate March (2017)}}

File:People's Climate March 2014.jpg

The climate movement convened its largest single event on 21 September 2014, when it mobilized 400,000 activists in New York during the People’s Climate March (plus several thousand more in other cities), organized by the People's Climate Movement, to demand climate action from the global leaders gathered for the 2014 UN Climate Summit.{{cite news |last=Alter |first=Charlotte |date=September 21, 2014 |title=Hundreds of Thousands Converge on New York to Demand Climate-Change Action |publisher=Time |location=New York |url=https://time.com/3415162/peoples-climate-march-new-york-manhattan-demonstration/ |access-date=December 30, 2014 |archive-date=December 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230174318/http://time.com/3415162/peoples-climate-march-new-york-manhattan-demonstration/? |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=People's Climate March - Wrap up |url=http://peoplesclimate.org/wrap-up/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014061824/http://peoplesclimate.org/wrap-up/ |archive-date=2014-10-14 |access-date=2014-12-30}}

There have been coalitions of institutional investors that have promulgated climate activism.{{cite journal |last1=Condon |first1=Madison |date=March 2020 |title=Externalities and the Common Owner |url=https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/992 |journal=Washington Law Review |volume=95 |issue=1 |page=1 |archive-date=2021-01-18 |access-date=2021-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118065801/https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/992/ |url-status=live }} These initiatives have sometimes included expansive group efforts, such as Climate Action 100+ - a coalition over 300 institutional investors (including some of the largest greenhouse emitters).{{cite web |date=2021 |title=Global Investors Driving Business Transition |url=https://www.climateaction100.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212192514/http://www.climateaction100.org/ |archive-date=2017-12-12 |access-date=2021-05-15 |website=Climate Action 100+}} Institutional activism is not uncommon, despite the common assumption that shareholder interests would be averse to such action. However, industry-wide efforts to mitigate climate risks is often in the interest of heavily diversified firms, as climate change can have a strong effect on the global economy.

{{Main|The Climate Mobilization}}

Since 2014, growing portions of the climate movement, especially in the United States have been organizing for an international economic response to climate change on the scale of the mobilization of the American home front during World War II, with the goal of rapidly slashing carbon emissions and transitioning to 100% clean energy faster than the free market is likely to allow. Throughout 2015 and 2016, The Climate Mobilization led grassroots campaigns in the U.S. for this scale of ambition, and in July 2016, activists succeeded in getting text adopted into the Democratic Party's national platform calling for WWII-scale climate mobilization.{{cite news |last1=Greene |first1=Russell |date=19 July 2016 |title=Beyond Paris: Finding the Courage to Face the Climate Emergency |work=CommonDreams |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/07/19/beyond-paris-finding-courage-face-climate-emergency |archive-date=20 September 2016 |access-date=13 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920010601/http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/07/19/beyond-paris-finding-courage-face-climate-emergency |url-status=live }} In August 2015, environmentalist Bill McKibben published an article in the New Republic rallying Americans to "declare war on climate change."{{cite news |last1=McKibben |first1=Bill |date=15 August 2016 |title=We Need to Literally Declare War on Climate Change |magazine=New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/135684/declare-war-climate-change-mobilize-wwii |archive-date=10 June 2021 |access-date=13 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610094752/https://newrepublic.com/article/135684/declare-war-climate-change-mobilize-wwii |url-status=live }}

File:"FridaysForFuture" protest Berlin 14-12-2018 07.jpg in Berlin in 2018]]{{Excerpt|School strike for climate}}

Since the beginning of Student Activism, the youths voices have often mirrored broader societal concerns, extending beyond the confines of campus-specific issues. Historically, student activists have not only brought critical popular interest concerns like environmental issues into public conversation but have also influenced the development and implementation of significant environmental policies. In the 1970's, millions of U.S. students participated in the world's first Earth Day organizing and hosting ‘teach-ins’. This led to the emergence of key student groups like Pennsylvania, SLOP (Student League Opposing Pollution); Schenectady, New York, had YUK (Youth Uncovering Crud); and Cloquet, Minnesota, had SCARE (Students Concerned about a Ravaged Environment) to name a few.{{Cite journal |last=Rome |first=Adam |date=April 2010 |title=The Genius of Earth Day |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20749669 |journal=Oxford University Press on behalf of Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History}} These student-led groups in addition to other coalition groups began to apply overwhelming pressure on the federal legislature. In 1970, the U.S. federal government created the Environmental Protection Agency, to develop and enforce laws and regulations; in that same year congress passed the Clean Air Act, aimed at reducing dense visible smog in many of the nation's cities and industrial centers.{{Cite web |date=16 Feb 2024 |title=United States Environmental Protection Agency. Clean Air Act Requirements and History |url=https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-requirements-and-history}}

Thenceforth, youth all over the world have been striking, advocating, and volunteering for climate solutions. Youth climate action groups such as SustainUS, Fridays for Future, the Sunrise Movement, PIRG, and Climate Cardinals have called on young people to hold leaders accountable, whether through attending conferences,{{Cite web |date=2018-06-14 |title=Our Impact {{!}} SustainUS |url=https://sustainus.org/our-impact/ |access-date=2021-12-14 |language=en-US}} striking from school and pressuring politicians to listen to scientists,{{Cite web |title=Fridays for Future – How Greta started a global movement |url=https://fridaysforfuture.org/what-we-do/who-we-are/ |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=Fridays For Future |language=en-GB}}  or calling for greater green jobs and consolidating voting power.{{Cite web |title=About The Sunrise Movement |url=https://www.sunrisemovement.org/about/ |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=Sunrise Movement |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214203603/https://www.sunrisemovement.org/about/ |url-status=live }}[https://www.climatecardinals.org/ "Climate Cardinals."] Climate Cardinals. Retrieved 2025-2-16

In 2020 the United Nations Secretary General launched the global Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, selecting seven members who meet to represent the changes youth are demanding globally.{{Cite web |last=Nations |first=United |title=To the Secretary-General: youth press for climate priorities |url=https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/yag-meeting |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=United Nations |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nations |first=United |title=The Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change |url=https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/youth-in-action/youth-advisory-group |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=United Nations |language=en |archive-date=2021-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214203601/https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/youth-in-action/youth-advisory-group |url-status=live }}

Youth involvement in pro-climate action movements has increased significantly in the 21st century, and has intensified over the past few years.{{cite journal | doi=10.3390/su131911119 | doi-access=free | title="These Are the Very Small Things That Lead Us to That Goal": Youth Climate Strike Organizers Talk about Activism Empowering and Taxing Experiences | year=2021 | last1=Budziszewska | first1=Magdalena | last2=Głód | first2=Zuzanna | journal=Sustainability | volume=13 | issue=19 | page=11119 }} Youth climate activists have used social media platforms as a vehicle to engage and protest with the current environmental issue. After Greta Thunberg started the youth movement "Strikes for Climate" by protesting outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018, she documented her journey on Twitter, where she built a network to promote her cause and call people to action.Astor, Maggie. 2018. “7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism.” New York Times, March 05. Retrieved February 18, 2021 (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/us/student-protest-movements.html). The youth climate movement starts shifting from the traditional way to the social media platforms and it will continue in the future.

Younger generations are paying more attention to global events, particularly climate change. Research shows that climate change is of greater concern among younger people than older people. Over 70% of Americans aged 18 to 34 worry about global warming compared with 62% of those 35 to 54 and 56% who are 55 or older.Reinhart, RJ. “Global Warming Age Gap: Younger Americans Most Worried.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 20 Nov. 2021, news.gallup.com/poll/234314/global-warming-age-gap-younger-americans-worried.aspx. Corner claims that across European countries, young people tend to have similar or higher levels of concern than adults and have a higher sense of risk perception. Younger generations are more likely to have learned through general education about climate change in their schooling, and to be aware of the negative effects that climate change has brought to the Earth. In addition, they also see climate change as a more serious global event that is relevant to themselves because they will be more impacted, and thus should take the lead on addressing climate change.

When the pandemic hit, most school strikes movements around the world continued to be held, but moved more onto social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc), resulting in lower participation rates. However, participation in youth climate movement on social media continued to rise. Social media provided an outlet for youth to share their concerns, generate knowledge, and be more politically active since they are not yet able to vote and face logistical limitations in face-to-face participation.Seo, Hyunjin et al. “Teens’ Social Media and Collective Action.”New Media and Society 16(6):883-902.Velasquez, Alcides and Robert LaRose. 2015. “Youth Collective Activism through Social Media: The Role of Collective Efficacy.” New Media and Society 17(6):899-918.

The research found that activists in their study created a sense of connection to other young people and other climate change activists.Wielk, Emily and Alecea Standlee. 2021. “Fighting for Their Future: An Exploratory Study of Online Community Building in the Youth Climate Change Movement.” Qualitative Sociology Review 1 7(2):22-37. Retrieved Month, Year ( http://www.qualitativesociologyreview. org/ENG/archive_eng.php). DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.17.2.02 They usually post their activist identities on their social media account profile. (For example, @GretaThunberg, a young climate activist #climatechange#climatestrike #youthmovement). What they share in common is that they try to inspire others to do the same in their communities by showcasing themselves as climate activists with a strong voice. The strategy for younger activists is to situate themselves within a specific role to create a relevant identity to others and make connections with other people on the internet. Thus, regardless of which side the activists are going to support, they are utilizing their social media as a medium to communicate with others in a shared way. They are playing an important role focused on engaging a range of supporters worldwide to join in the youth climate movement.{{Excerpt|Youth Climate Movement}}YOUNGO is the official children and youth Constituency of the UNFCCC, with members up to 35 years old. One of the main tasks of this group is to draft a Global Youth Position Statement to hand officials at the annual UNFCCC Conference of Parties.{{Cite web |title=YOUNGO |url=https://unfccc.int/topics/education-youth/youth/youngo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913021202/https://unfccc.int/topics/education-youth/youth/youngo |archive-date=2021-09-13 |website=United Nations Climate Change}}{{Cite web |title=Young People Demand Action to Protect Their Futures at COP26 |url=https://unfccc.int/news/young-people-demand-action-to-protect-their-futures-at-cop26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109051447/http://unfccc.int/news/young-people-demand-action-to-protect-their-futures-at-cop26 |archive-date=2021-11-09 |website=UNFCCC}}

File:Regina_Student_Climate_Strike_September_20th_2019_33_(48766130776).jpg]]

{{Excerpt|Global Climate Strike of 20 September 2019}}

{{Further|2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference}}

In November 2023 around 70,000 people participated in a climate march in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 10 days before the elections in the country. This was the biggest climate march in the history of the Netherlands.{{cite news |title=Thousands March Through Amsterdam Calling for Climate Action Ahead of Dutch General Election |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/thousands-march-through-amsterdam-calling-for-climate-action-ahead-of-dutch-general-election-/7351658.html |access-date=15 November 2023 |agency=VOA |publisher=Associated Press |date=12 November 2023 |archive-date=15 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115140840/http://www.voanews.com/a/thousands-march-through-amsterdam-calling-for-climate-action-ahead-of-dutch-general-election-/7351658.html |url-status=live }}

Many climate protests are scheduled for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference including a climate march in London. The conference has created many protests, as the head of the conference is at the same time the head of the oil company ADNOC which according to one research "is planning the largest expansion of oil and gas production of any company in the world."{{cite web |title=COP28: How you can campaign to call for action on the climate crisis |url=https://cafod.org.uk/news/campaigning-news/cop28-how-you-can-campaign-to-call-for-action-on-the-climate-crisis |website=CAFOD |access-date=15 November 2023}}{{cite web |title=Climate activists to gather across the UK as part of the COP28 Global Day of Action |url=https://www.sustainweb.org/news/nov23-cop28-global-day-of-action-uk/ |website=Sustain |access-date=15 November 2023 |archive-date=15 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115175539/https://www.sustainweb.org/news/nov23-cop28-global-day-of-action-uk/ |url-status=live }}

In May 2024, the Summer of Heat on Wall Street began a series of civil disobedience actions in Tribeca, New York City, mainly at the Citibank World Headquarters plaza. This was the first climate protest in history to hold an entire season of weekly civil disobedience protests targeting Wall Street's role in environmental degradation. Targets include bankers and insurers, specifically Citibank and Citigroup.{{Cite news |last1=Sengupta |first1=Somini |last2=Buckley |first2=Cara |date=2024-07-11 |title=In New York, Protesting the Backers of Big Oil With Die-Ins, Drums and Song |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/climate/citibank-protests-climate-fossil-fuel-nyc.html |access-date=2024-08-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2024-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803034219/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/climate/citibank-protests-climate-fossil-fuel-nyc.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2024-06-10 |title='Summer of Heat on Wall Street' climate activists target Citigroup in Lower Manhattan |url=https://abc7ny.com/post/climate-protest-summer-heat-wall-street-climate-activists/14931471/ |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=ABC7 New York |language=en |archive-date=2024-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804204859/https://abc7ny.com/post/climate-protest-summer-heat-wall-street-climate-activists/14931471/ |url-status=live }}

• Business action on climate change
• Climate action
• Effects of climate change
• Environmental movement
• Ecological movement
• Environmental racism
• List of environmental protests
• List of women climate scientists and activists
• Plant-based action plan

{{reflist|1=2|refs=

{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/global-climate-strike-gathers-7-6m-people-146979|title=Global climate strike gathers 7.6m people|publisher=Hürriyet Daily News|date=29 September 2019|access-date=30 September 2019|archive-date=2 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002023836/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/global-climate-strike-gathers-7-6m-people-146979|url-status=live}}

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{{School strike for climate}}{{Environmentalism}}

{{Climate change}}

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Category:Green politics

Movement