I woke this morning at 5am and the first thing I did was read this 12-minute account from Roger Hallam about his trial and conviction. It is harrowing and shocking. In a british court. In 2024.

Please spare a few minutes to read it.

“I outlined four characteristics of the effects of emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, describing them as easy to understand, but unique to human experience and so horrific that they are impossible to assimilate.

1. They have universal effects – what’s emitted in India affects the USA, a melting Arctic affects Argentina and so on.

2. The ultimate consequence of GHGs in the atmosphere is that you destroy the basis of life – some experts say for 100,000 years, others 50 million, and some say the Earth will simply become like Venus. In other words, for the first time in human history, a group of people, namely a 1% of wealthy elites, are responsible for destroying everything forever.

3. The Earth has reached a 1.5˚C rise in temperature already and at some point in the next decade we’ll have triggered geological tipping points – regardless of any action, we’ll have started unstoppable change. In other words, we don’t have time to not pull that person from in front of the lorry, if we don’t act now it will be too late. Some scientists contend it’s already too late – the UN has said we have two years in which to make radical changes – so we’re not just trying to stop people from doing bad things, but to prevent them from doing bad things which will create badness forever.

4. There is not an insubstantial possibility of entire human extinction as a result of pumping GHGs into the atmosphere, we’re talking about a crime fundamentally different from any other in history. This, I said, is why I want to be able to show the jury expert evidence.”

Judge for yourself what to make of the judge of this case. I found the insights from Roger’s account apalling. For example “At this point, the judge sent the jury home, and again scoffed at me for defending myself as an “amateur lawyer” getting “amateur results”.”

I’ve signed the petition page (https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest), which begins as follows:

“Cressie, Daniel, Lou, Lucia and Roger (the WholeTruthFive) have just been sentenced to a combined 21 years in prison, the harshest sentences for peaceful protest in UK history. Their “crime”? Participating in a Zoom call to discuss disruptive protest action against catastrophic new fossil fuel licences.

The UN rapporteur Michel Forst has already slammed the trial and the sentence, warning that it marks “a dark day for peaceful environmental protest”. At trial, the five weren’t allowed to defend their actions in context of the climate emergency. When they spoke the whole truth to the jury, 4 of the 5 were arrested multiple times in court and jailed.”

#climateaction

#climatejustice

#juststopoil