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The climate crisis is one of the top challenges facing humanity today, and governments have a clear responsibility to their citizens – and to everyone else on the planet – to protect the environment in the interest of saving lives.
But as scientists and activists raise the alarm, France’s government is shooting the messenger, deciding this week to shut down an environmental group.
The interior ministry confirmed Wednesday the dissolution of Collectif Les Soulèvements de la Terre (The Earth Uprisings Collective), an umbrella group of environmental activist organizations in France.
The government alleges the group has incited violence, including during protests in March opposing the construction of a giant reservoir in Sainte-Soline, western France.
But if the government has evidence of incitement to violence, why doesn’t it stick to simply prosecuting those individuals responsible? Indeed, one Sainte-Soline protester was sentenced just yesterday.
Why take this drastic, sweeping action to ban an entire group? It’s completely over the top – and also in violation of France’s obligations under international law.
It’s not an isolated incident, unfortunately. It reflects a wave of French government hostility toward environmental activists.
Human rights groups are not the only ones to say so. Multiple United Nations experts recently expressed concern about “a growing trend of stigmatization and criminalization of individuals and civil society organizations raising awareness about the consequences of climate change.”
It’s also worth noting that French authorities are not just shooting the messenger figuratively, but also literally.
At the reservoir protest, according to France’s Human Rights League, police fired teargas grenades, stun grenades, explosive sting-ball grenades, and rubber bullets at activists, “as soon as the demonstrators arrived.”
The interior minister responded to these reports of excessive police force by attacking and threatening the Human Rights League.
The French government seems to be in extreme denial, somehow believing protests are the problem, when the real problem is the issue protests are drawing attention to. Do those in power think they can make climate change go away if they stop people talking about it?
French authorities need to reverse course sharply. They should undo the dissolution of Collectif Les Soulèvements de la Terre and end their assaults on civil society.
Stop shooting the messengers. Start listening to them.