(Brussels, September 10, 2024) – Democratic governments should stop using increasingly harsh, overly broad, and vague criminal laws against climate protesters and activists, Climate Rights International said in a new report and video released today. Governments are imposing lengthy prison sentences, engaging in preventive detention, and filing criminal charges for trivial offenses against climate activists.

The 70-page report, “On Thin Ice: Disproportionate Responses to Climate Change Protesters in Democratic Countries,” documents the increasingly heavy-handed treatment of climate protests in Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The report demonstrates how, in cracking down on climate activists, governments are violating their legal commitments to protect basic rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association.

“You don’t have to agree with the tactics of climate activists to understand the importance of defending their rights to protest and to free speech,” said Brad Adams, Executive Director at Climate Rights International. “Instead of jailing climate protesters and undermining civil liberties, governments should heed their call to take urgent action to address the climate crisis.”

The escalating impacts of climate change and frustration with governmental inaction are fueling protests, Climate Rights International said. Concerned citizens are using the right to peaceful protest – including civil disobedience, the centerpiece of the suffragette, anti-colonial, civil rights, and anti-apartheid movements – as a way to raise awareness and press for action.

As climate activist Luisa Neubauer told Climate Rights International, “The fact is that climate activism is not something you’re born into, but it’s something you stand up to do no matter where you are in your life. And I would say from all the years of activism and for all the thousands of people I’ve spoken with, the one really most powerful answer to desperation is action.”

Under international law, countries must respect and protect the fundamental rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and association. Rather than protecting these rights, many nations are using old legislation or enacting harsh new laws to restrict the right to peaceful protest and impose disproportionate penalties. For example:

• In the United Kingdom, five protesters were given unprecedented prison sentences for conspiring to cause a public nuisance on a the M25 motorway that encircles London. Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin received four years in prison while Roger Hallam received five years, thought to be the longest sentence ever given in the United Kingdom for non-violent protest. Over 1,200 artists, athletes, academics, and human rights lawyers signed an open letter to the Attorney General condemning the sentences. In an earlier case, Steve Gingell was prosecuted under a law enacted in 2023 that allows a sentence of up to twelve months in prison for even minor disruption of “key national infrastructure,” which is defined to include roads. He was sentenced to six months in prison for slow walking for 30 minutes in a climate march on a London road.
• In Germany, Winfried Lorenz received 22 months in prison without parole for his participation in a sit-in blockade. It is believed to be the longest prison sentence ever imposed in Berlin against a peaceful climate protester. Christian Bergemann was held in preventative detention for 10 days because of his intention to help block a road to peacefully protest an auto show. This is allowed through a controversial Bavarian law.
• In Australia, Deanna “Violet” Coco was prosecuted under a New South Wales law that allows a sentence of up to two years in prison for anyone who enters or remains on a bridge or tunnel if doing so leads to any part of the bridge or tunnel being closed or vehicles or pedestrians being redirected.
• In the Netherlands, Sieger Sloot, a Dutch actor and activist, encouraged his followers on social media to join a peaceful protest at The Hauge in The Netherlands that involved blocking a roadway. The police arrested him before the protest even took place and prosecuted him for the felony of sedition.
• In the United States, Timothy Martin and Joanna Smith faced felony charges that included up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for smearing water-soluble paint on the protective case of a statue in the National Gallery in Washington D.C.

In an interview with Climate Rights International, Joanna Smith spoke about the motivation for her action at the National Gallery and said, “I interrupted what I love, which is art and culture and all the things we go to museums to celebrate, I interrupted that ever so briefly and delicately to try to help protect it. And to try to help save what we are all about to lose, which is everything that we love if we don’t address the climate crisis.”

“July 2024 was the 14^th month in a row to become the hottest month on record,” Adams said. “Governments should reflect on the absurdity that each new month also seems to include record breaking sentences for climate protesters.

In some cases, climate protesters are even being prohibited from discussing the motivations behind their actions, undermining the right to a fair trial. In the United Kingdom, the judge in the M25 case cited above refused to allow expert witness testimony about climate science or for the accused to explain their motivations. In a separate case, Giovanna Lewis and Amy Pritchard, who were arrested and charged after blocking a roadway in central London on October 25, 2021, were ordered not to mention their motivations in their closing statements. They were sentenced to seven months in prison for contempt of court when they identified the ongoing climate crisis as the reason for their actions.

Governments are also targeting climate advocacy groups. For example, in June 2023, the French government ordered the dissolution of Soulèvements de la Terre – an order that was later overturned by courts. In May 2024, five members of Last Generation in Germany were charged with “forming a criminal organization,” under section 129 of the German criminal code. It is believed to be the first time a non-violent protest group has been charged under that section of the law.

Climate Rights International called on governments to reverse course and:

• Protect the right to peaceful protest
• Adopt proactive measures to support safe and responsible demonstrations
• Amend or repeal laws that target peaceful protesters
• Allow evidence of being motivated by climate change and adopt legislation creating a public interest defense in legal proceedings involving climate protesters

“Governments should see climate protesters and activists as allies in the fight against climate change, not criminals,” said Adams. “The crackdown on peaceful protests is not only a violation of their basic rights, it can also be used by repressive governments as a green light to go after climate, environmental, and human rights defenders in their countries.”