Up for Extinction Rebellion

‘Are you up for this?’ I hesitated. ‘This’ was civil disobedience as part of the imminent Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests in London. OK, it was non-violent civil disobedience, but it could still get me arrested, a fine and maybe a criminal record. Having spent most of my 60-plus years being a law-abiding citizen, believing in the power of rational argument rather than loud protest, this was definitely outside my comfort zone. To say ‘Yes’ would alter my identity, both in my own eyes and in the eyes of my family...

Professionally, I had always been involved with the environment in one form or another.  Following my Physics degree, I had gone on to gain a PhD in Environmental Science. In 1991 I joined the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to help coordinate the teams of scientists who drafted the various chapters of the second IPCC report, eventually published in 1996. This was a dream job for me, matching my personal conviction that the environment is supremely...