JUST STOP!

I have often noticed conflict between science, the legal profession and politicians in my career spanning six decades in industry, academe, the environment and ecology.

The judiciary are not, or only rarely, well educated in scientific method, theory and practice, and that is a major problem. Yes, they can call experts to assist but they often do not understand what the experts say and consequently give insufficient weight to the science in their judgements, as was the case with Just Stop Oil recently[1].

The authoritarian refusal by the judge to allow Just Stop Oil defendants to argue the case for climate change in their trial is very worrying, not to say foolish, and sending them to prison was frankly an insult to justice, and a belittling of the critical urgency of the environmental calamity now upon us. This is the last thing we need in these times of ecological collapse: it brings the law into disrepute, and it belittles the urgency of the planetary crisis. I see the evidence for climate change, which I prefer more accurately to call climate catastrophe, on a daily basis: in the dearth of insects, the disappearance of many once familiar birds, the increase in extreme weather and the large numbers of species moving north to colonise the UK. Add to this the observed facts before us of threatening changes in the Gulf Stream and ocean currents, ocean acidification & sea level rise (some 20cm in the last hundred years), reduced albedo, melting polar ice, the thawing Greenland ice sheet, and disappearing mountain glaciers, and the need for urgent and drastic action is staring us in the face.

It is in my view extraordinary that scientific evidence is too often given such little weight in politics and law – and I must say that I believe it comes down to a lack of education in science, ignorance of the clear empirical evidence and of the scientific method. This is not always the case: in my times as an expert witness, I have had the pleasure of working with barristers, inspectors and learned counsel with a thorough science knowledge and, my goodness, doesn't it make a difference! Disturbingly though, and as I remarked at the beginning of this note, I have seen instances of scientific ignorance all too frequently in my career, exemplified by the kind of cruel and wrong-headed decisions to send peaceful protesters to prison. I believe it should be mandatory for professionals entering such important domains as politics and the law to be fully versed in scientific method and practice, particularly where nature and the environment are concerned.

You can read more about the context of this on Climate Rights International’s web site at https://cri.org/. Governments need to stop imprisoning peaceful protesters and start listening.

Betts Ecology have staff with a wide range of expertise and practice in many areas of environmental science, and we do our very best to apply land management which reflects that knowledge and experience.

[1] I recommend you read George Monbiot’s recent article in The Guardian of 14^th August: https://tinyurl.com/am2p36pb. Many influential people agree with him. So do I.