When you see a scientist arrested after telling the truth about the cause of climate destruction and global pandemics, there is a feeling of dread over what our political landscape has become. That is, at least, the feeling I had when witnessing ecologist Emma Smart being arrested in London, whilst she was speaking about the science of animal farming.

Climate sceptic lobbies

Governments across the world have a chokehold on the funding and publishing of scientific research. As long as it serves the status quo, they get to decide who the ‘experts’ are. For them, there is no driving concern to tell the truth based on rigorous scientific study when that science challenges the very essence of what a government has sole interest in — their pockets.

When it comes to the financial incentives of science-spinning in the UK, there is no greater lobby than that of climate denial. So when green policies are proposed, such as the cutback of long-haul flights and the divestment of fossil fuels, there is resistance from the government to seemingly protect their friends in the big oil companies, who are amongst the highest polluters worldwide. There is perhaps no clearer example of the lobby against climate mitigation policies than that of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Andrew Montford, a member of this climate change denialist think tank, has previously said:

“Policies to ‘stop climate change’ are based on climate models that completely failed to predict the lack of warming for the past two decades. Observational data show clearly that the predictions of unacceptable warming caused by more carbon dioxide are wrong. Economic discount rates aside, policies designed to save the planet from more carbon dioxide are based on failed computer models.”

So what does this have to do with animal farming?

Firstly, let’s be clear that the UK Government also has its pockets neatly embedded within animal agricultural industries. They currently fund development banks, which are pumping up to £2.1billion into the meat and dairy industries. Furthermore, the UK Government hands out disproportionate tax subsidies to farmers, based on their type of farming practice; subsidies for animal farmers account for up to 90% of their profits, whilst these government payments only account for 10% of profits for plant-based farmers. So even when scientific research reveals that animal farming is a major driver of climate destruction, the government would prefer to bury that truth.

In recent years, there has been compelling evidence collated that shows just how destructive animal farming is for our planet. Whilst animal agriculture accounts for 80% of Amazon deforestation, subsequently wiping out the earth’s most vital carbon sink, animal farming industries are also responsible at least 21% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Most significantly, in 2018 a study was carried out at the University of Oxford into the environmental impacts of food production, a research project that turned out to be the most comprehensive of its kind. This study found that animal farming and fishing takes up 83% of global farmlands. It also concluded that a plant-based food system could reduce farmland usage by 76% and greenhouse gas emissions by 49% from current global levels.

But that only touches on the climate impacts of animal agriculture, what about the health impacts? Well, as we all know, 2020 has seen devastation across the whole of human society due to the Covid-19 virus. This is a virus that just so happens to be zoonotic, meaning that it was passed from animals to humans.

But Covid-19 is not an anomaly; recent scientific studies have estimated that 75% of new and emerging infectious diseases come from animals. So Whilst scientists believe Covid-19 originated from an animal ‘wet market’ in China, many more zoonotic and infectious diseases, such as bird flu and swine flu, have arisen from livestock worldwide.

But why was an ecologist arrested?

On 3 September 2020, the climate and animal justice group, Animal Rebellion, staged a protest in Central London to highlight the links between animal agriculture and the health and climate emergencies. The protest involved an animal slaughter truck, which blockaded the road outside the Department of Health and Social Care. The truck, painted pink, had a message on either side that read: “Animal Farming = Pandemics & Climate Crisis”. The group were calling on the government to lead a transition to a just and sustainable plant-based food system, in order to reduce the risk of future pandemics and avert the worst impacts of climate breakdown, such as extreme weather events, droughts and floods.

During this demonstration, ecologist Emma Smart stood on the side of the road and began speaking about the climate and health impacts of animal agriculture, a subject in which she has developed extensive knowledge throughout her career. Her speech, which was recorded, drew links between animal farming being detrimental for human life by increasing the likelihood of deadly pandemics, such as COVID-19, as well as climate breakdown.

“This pandemic has shown us that the health of wildlife is the health of humans too; the two cannot be separated,” she said. “We are all part of the earth’s living system.”

She continued, “Humans’ desire for meat has seen enormous swathes of the globe deforested to graze animals or grow crops just to feed them, all the while reducing wildlife’s refuge and bring humans into closer proximity to the pathogens that ignite these pandemics. So how have we found ourselves in the midst of a pandemic?”

At this point of question, the Met Police approached Dr Smart and, without much exchange of words, unplugged the sound system and began carting it away. But not only did they silence her, they grabbed her by either arm and began walking her away. Before long, the police took Dr Smart to a van and arrested her.

But she was not the only one to be unjustly detained that day — over 300 individuals had been arrested over the course of the day, more than 200 of which were held on Lambeth Bridge against their will, without any choice of leaving. What we see here is no more than the unlawful abuse of police powers, working only to minimise disruption to the government they serve.

But these heavy-handed tactics against one’s legal right to peaceful protest has much more concerning implications for the role of science within our political and social landscape. It shows the extent to which the UK Government will go to silence great bodies of scientific research, in defence of their friends in giant agriculture companies.

If we are to solve the climate and health emergencies, that means leading by what the climate and health experts have to say. That is, that we must bring and end to animal farming and transition towards a just and sustainable plant-based food system. The UK Government must acknowledge that truth and act upon it.

We cannot let the suppression of science become the death of democracy.

The post We Cannot Let The Suppression of Science Become The Death of Democracy first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Animal Rebellion’s change of plans over Smithfield was controversial and we have listened to the valid and thoughtful criticism that it was undemocratic. The reason for the change of plans has been explained elsewhere so here we will focus on how we can improve our democratic decision making over the Rebellion.

Due to a combination of different factors — time pressures, safety concerns, being a very young organization, the Rebel Alliance, our strategy and the limitations of our small but dedicated team of volunteers — it was not possible to open this decision up to the wider community.

Decentralized decision making has always been the aim. We believe that the best way to achieve this is via People’s Assemblies. This is a grassroots method of self organizing that allows groups of people to discuss issues and make decisions collectively, so that no one group or individual can dominate the process. They also allow us to model participatory democracy, whereby ideas, feedback and decision making is done as a collective endeavour. People’s Assemblies have been used in France and by the Occupy Movement. This movement is about issues far bigger than any of us as individuals, and doing the best we can as a group to achieve our aims for animals and the planet is the goal.

People’s Assemblies can help build the movement. Assemblies held in public draw members of the public into the conversation and add their voice to the debate. They can also be used during direct actions, such as occupations or other forms of non violent civil disobedience. Groups of any size can discuss issues or make decisions collectively regarding moving our aims and objectives forward (for example, direct action groups making emergency decisions themselves).

We do not want to replicate existing power structures. We have a diversity of voices within our movement and all deserve to be heard using active listening — the technique of hearing someone out before developing any response to ensure everyone gets a voice in a supportive, trusting environment. No one individual or group holds all the answers and these issues are not ones that demand point scoring or intellectual jousting but instead using the wisdom of the crowd as a collective. To do this, there is a list of hand signals we use to allow meetings to run smoothly and be radically inclusive.

Trust is an important factor. Trust in the process, the facilitator and the other participants. That’s why the system and process are agreed on at the beginning.

No system is perfect but coming together in humility in order to work towards decisions and actions that are best for all and achieve our aims is the goal. This is your movement, my movement, our movement.

Let’s hear from one of our rebels, Dulcie Ruttley-Dornan, and her experience of democratic decision making at the rebellion:

Animal Rebellion: My experience of a decentralised system.

“For a long time, I have felt dismayed at hierarchical systems and the way they often end up benefiting those sitting comfortably at the top whilst the minions at the bottom do their dirty work; work that they don’t necessarily agree with and also have little say in. A decentralised system, however, seemed ideological and an impossible reality. Thanks to Animal Rebellion, I have recently had a change of heart on this.

Every day we hold a People’s Assembly to create new plans and actions for the following 24 hours, determined by the consensus. Anyone is welcome to attend, including the Police…and they always do! During Day 2 of the rebellion, we had a tough decision to make, which would impact the future of Animal Rebellion and had the potential to make or break us. The question put to the rebels was whether to hold our site at DEFRA, joining forces with Extinction Rebellion, or to march to Trafalgar Square and set up camp? In small groups of around 10 people, we first discussed the possibilities surrounding the question at hand in detail, then summarised our points and decided on 3 core issues to support our overall argument in answer to the question. A facilitator or scribe from each group then shared our thoughts and opinions over the microphone to everyone at thePeople’s Assembly. One by one the facilitators stated the consensus of their smaller groups, resulting in an almost equal divide for ‘Stay at DEFRA’ and ‘Go to Trafalgar’. Finally, a committee, which was formed by volunteers and nominees on Day 1, held their own discussion incorporating all of the opinions brought up during the meeting. Ultimately, the decision was made to stay and hold our site at DEFRA!

The reason this changed my view of a decentralised system is what came next. There was such a strong sense of solidarity, even from those who had voted to leave the site. Through the deep discussion in our small groups and giving the opportunity to speak and be heard to everyone, the Animal Rebellion members understood the reasoning behind the decision to hold our base at DEFRA. We had explored the pros and cons of all of our options, including the risks involved in staying and the symbolism of DEFRA; what with it being the chief government department that props up the animal farming industry! We also understood and supported those who made their own decisions to go to Trafalgar Square by helping them with their belongings and keeping them informed of Animal Rebellion’s planned actions. Due to the process of the People’s Assembly, gathering opinions from everyone and making decisions together, we all had a beneficial input in the process.

I have used words like ‘we’ and ‘our’ throughout this short piece deliberately, because all Animal Rebellion members are essential cogs in the grander mechanisms of the system: Animal Rebellion is truly decentralised and I can’t think of a more inclusive system. What a decentralised system loses in surprise tactics (since the Public Assembly’s are literally public), it gains in open, honest, and inclusive decision making. We become ever stronger with increased solidarity and our positivity continues.”

The post The People’s Rebellion: This Is What Democracy Looks Like first appeared on Animal Rebellion.