The parody of extreme environmental activities

The polluted environment and climate change are consequences of all human activities. Hanging "save the environment" or "don't use plastic" banners does nothing but place increasing pressure on consumers. Meanwhile, production, the ultimate cause of pollution, has not changed even an inch. However, these ways do not seem to have made much of a difference. The ecosystem is still coming to an end no matter how much they try to make a change.

So nowadays, extreme environmental activism has taken to a new level in order to put more pressure on the government to stop climate change.

A recent environmental protest targeted Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, from the environmental group Just Stop Oil, threw a can of tomato soup onto the painting at London’s National Gallery. Plummer and Holland performed the stunt to protest fossil fuel extraction. Although their intention is to help bring environmental awareness, their actions were performative and did nothing to get their point across.

The activists have been arrested by the London police on suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass. Luckily, the painting had a glass protection shield, so there was no significant damage.

The action of two activists goes against the actual purpose of environmental activism and distracts from environmental activists who are working towards concrete solutions.

Professor Nicole Seymour, an English associate professor and a graduate advisor in environmental studies at Cal State Fullerton, said that their action is the result of a lack of responsibility from older generations, which has led to anger and climate anxiety among younger generations.

“I think it's a very shocking, contentious thing to do,” Seymour said. “But in my mind, that kind of speaks to the desperation of a lot of people in their generation that they just feel like they don't have a future. So I’m guessing they kind of felt like they needed to take this extreme action because so little is being done policy-wise about climate change.”

In an event that happened in Germany, instead of tomato soup, two activists from Last Generation threw mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in Barberini Museum, Berlin to protest fossil fuel production.

Or in Maryland, a group called Declare Emergency stopped the traffic in all inner loop lanes to demand President Joe Biden declare an emergency on climate change.

Those groups are just small puzzles of a larger picture of extreme environmental activism nowadays and A22 Network is behind every action. They declare themselves as the Last Generation of the old world and want to create a new world, where humanity can love and forgive, and continue great adventures. They will do whatever it takes to protect today's generation and all future generations.

A22 Network’s declaration sounds so demanding and so vulnerable with all the words containing threats. It is not ok and no longer about raising awareness to protect the environment or stop oil production.

Seymour said their actions distract the public from the real message, which they gave is not wrong. But their execution makes everyone focus only on the negativity they caused, and distracts from environmental issues.

There is no need to antagonize the public with unnecessary actions that go against the real meaning of environmental activism, which is solution based.

Nearly 15,000 groups and charities are devoted to fighting climate change. For example, Greta Thunberg started her “Fridays For Future” movement to take action against the climate crisis, which kickstarted a peaceful climate strike in 2019 with six million participants.

Small adjustments, like reducing plastic, shopping consciously, or simply remembering to turn off the electricity and water after use, are simple practices that can be implemented in our day-to-day routine. In California, the group California Climate Action Corps was established to encourage citizens to take meaningful actions to protect the climate.

“In California, our youth are reacting to the urgency of this crisis, which is why we are creating positive ways for Californians to take climate action,” California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday said in an email statement. “Through California Climate Action Corps, Californians can make a positive change in their community whether they have an hour to volunteer or a year to dedicate to the fellowship.”

Those extreme actions lack an understanding of how to effectively communicate climate issues. Their approach to environmental activism is childish. But they can redeem themselves by disseminating solutions rather than attempting to deface fine art and other publicity stunts.

If there are many meaningful environment campaigns that are implemented one after another, they will gradually create a great resonance, powerful enough to change the consciousness and actions of the community.