Science and climate advocacy - a much-needed balancing act
- Daily Maverick
Ecologist Professor Sally Archibald makes a case for scientists 'stepping out of their labs' and engaging in activism and keeping an ethical balance.
Science does “staying in its lane” pretty well. But the lines are getting blurrier and it’s about time too for ecologist Professor Sally Archibald, from Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences (APES) at the University of the Witwatersrand, writes Daily Maverick's Ufrieda Ho.
Archibald presented a talk on “The ethical challenges of balancing climate advocacy and science” at Wits University’s Pro VC Seminar this spring. The topic is contentious but Archibald, speaking out publicly for the first time, rooted her position of why she needs to be both scientist and activist and why there should be room for both.
Her stance mirrors the global movement that has seen more scientists come to a reckoning that as the people who know the science best, they should also be at the forefront of climate activism.
Science activism divides the room though. It pits scientific objectivity against personal moral values. Scientist-activists have faced a backlash, had their professional affiliations revoked and some have been fired.
But history has shown the value and impact when scientists choose activism. In this country it helped purge Aids denialism and forced the government to finally make treatment publicly available. More recently it’s been to fight for life-saving 沙巴体育官网_2024欧洲杯博彩app@ vaccine programmes. Activist scientists have over the decades used science to campaign against dangers like leaded gas, the impacts of the synthetic insecticide DDT and the atomic bomb.
“I can’t play along anymore,” Archibald said of the consequences of ignoring that scientists’ public neutrality and public disengagement has had the effect of dulling the alarm bell for climate action. It’s also led to bits of science and research being cherry-picked or cobbled together then amplified as solutions.
Read the full article in the Daily Maverick. Professor Sally Archibald is also the Lead Investigator at Future Ecosystems for Africa.