How scientists can contribute to social movements and climate action

Despite decades of scientists' warnings about climate and ecological breakdown, record-breaking heat and escalating environmental disasters have become commonplace. Science has been attacked, dismissed and politicized, and the world is accelerating in a terrifying direction.

To scientists, this can feel particularly overwhelming. So what can we do?

Scientific knowledge alone hasn't generated the urgent societal action many scientists expected. Therefore, to protect ourselves, future generations and countless other species, some scientists have started to reflect on their tactics. Not prepared to be neutral in the face of such an all encompassing threat, scientists like us have been asking what our role should be in an era when our planet's life support systems are crumbling so rapidly, while governments and officials pour fuel on the flames.

Answering this question has led some of us to join social movements and take part in peaceful protests. Three years ago, a group of scientists were arrested in the course of protesting the UK government's decisions to license new oil fields. We were among the lab-coat wearing protesters who took the science to the government that day, pasting huge posters explaining the dangers of new fossil fuels onto the windows of the department that was committing us to them for decades to come.

It was a surreal experience, recently documented in the short film Plan Z: From Lab Coats to Handcuffs (2024) and a book called Scientists on Survival: Personal Stories of Climate Action (2025).

While taking a visible, public stand against harmful decisions can be a provocative and effective route for scientists to push for change, it isn't the only way we can be effective advocates. Recent surveys reveal that there is a great appetite from scientists to be more involved in social movements, but many face barriers to participation and often don't know where to start or how best to contribute.

In our recent article published in the journal npj Climate Action in collaboration with our colleague and science communicator Abi Perrin, we explore how scientists across all disciplines, backgrounds and career stages can get involved in activism in a range of practical ways. Whatever your strengths and limitations (depending on your status and which country you live), there are many positive ways to engage.

From silos to society

Currently scientific disciplines can be quite isolated from one another, and scientists generally aren't very prominent in the public domain. We might feel restricted to speaking to our own very specific expertise but a scientist's job involves understanding complex information, converting and communicating it into simpler, more useful forms.

Scientists can communicate about climate and nature, even without writing a Ph.D. thesis on it. And we can be very powerful when we do: scientists are still widely trusted.

Politicians need to listen to scientists, not just the lobbyists. This is why engaging directly with MPs (or equivalents) is a route more scientists like us are taking. For instance, scientists in the UK have been important and prominent champions of the Climate and Nature Bill currently being debated in the House of Commons.

Social movements need scientists too. We can use our research and communication skills to inform and improve campaigns, bringing them to a wider audience. This support adds credibility to campaigns. We can also analyze what works to investigate, for example, the effectiveness of different activism strategies and targets in a range of contexts.

Academics have also supported activist campaigns against destructive infrastructure development by speaking at public hearings, as well as providing expert witness testimonies for activists in court for acts of protest.

Scientists can also push for cultural and policy change within our own institutions, including research institutions, science academies and professional bodies. This might include cutting ties to the fossil fuel industry, reorienting research and teaching to focus on sustainable development or accelerating the decarbonization of campus activities.

We can support colleagues and students who engage in protests and encourage peers and leaders to do the same. It is easier to take action when you know you are not acting alone.

It's more important than ever that our professional bodies and institutions are emboldened by their membership to advocate for the public good that science brings, and the need to defend academic freedom, recognizing that often means speaking truth to power.

Collective action is crucial. We can all seek out allies, organize among peers and build powerful coalitions, rather than hoping science will passively translate into change. Time is of the essence.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.