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With climate change , the past year has seen many climate protests from groups such as and . Some of these protests have caused wide-scale disruption across the U.K., leading to police intervention. According to , over 100 climate activists were jailed for protesting in 2022.

World Languages and Cultures Teacher Tamara Smith said protests can inspire action and ignite change through the power of collective voice.

鈥淭he greatest value of protests is the way that people can come together to inspire others to care and to get actively involved,鈥� Smith said.

Furthermore, Smith said the most effective protests are 鈥減eaceful, inclusive and creative.鈥�

According to the , with climate protests on the rise, new legislation allows police to stop protests before they result in major disruption.聽

Sabina Peterson Rajalingam (鈥�25) said the police should have the right to control climate protests if they become chaotic or violent.

鈥淚f things do become violent, their job is to protect citizens,鈥� Rajalingam said. 鈥淚f that means stopping a protest, then so be it.鈥澛�

According to the , environmental activist group has conducted multiple protests which have received international publicity. For example, two activists threw tomato soup on the Vincent Van Gogh painting 鈥淪unflowers” at the National Gallery in London, per

Alessandro Arpaio (鈥�26) said he found this act to be ineffective and inconsiderate to those who value the artwork.聽

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 carry out acts like this and expect it to make a change,鈥� Arpaio said. 鈥淭hey got their publicity but at the end of the day, it鈥檚 insensitive towards people who treasure these artworks.鈥�

Rajalingam said more aggressive approaches to protesting are one of the reasons why climate change protests are given a bad reputation.

鈥�Rash actions grab a lot of attention but there’s also a negative side gearing towards climate change protests because of that,鈥� Rajalingam said. 鈥淚t undermines the idea of protesting for the issue, and I don’t think it has sparked a lot of change.鈥�

Arpaio said while he does not support violent or destructive protests, he finds it aggravating when climate protests are undermined.

鈥淲hen there are people in the street fighting for something, it鈥檚 cruel not to listen to them and to play down their efforts,鈥� Arpaio said. 鈥淚 just hope they strive to keep going and they take this as fuel to go further.鈥�

Saoirse Burlingame (鈥�24) said when she attended climate protests in the past, the environment 鈥渄idn鈥檛 feel dangerous at all鈥� since the protestors were 鈥渨elcoming of each other.鈥�

Burlingame said the younger generations have been motivated to protest more since they will have to face the repercussions of climate change in the near future.

鈥淚t comes down to the younger generations being the ones who are going to have to deal with the consequences of climate change, and that鈥檚 definitely propelling them to protest more,鈥� Burlingame said.

Likewise, Arpaio said there has been an increase in awareness and prioritization of the climate crisis over the last few years.

鈥淥ver the last five years, we鈥檝e seen a whole issue come out of the blue due to protestors and activists fighting for attention,鈥� Arpaio said.

Smith said education has also contributed to the recent growth in climate awareness.

鈥淚 can see that calls to action in education are having an impact,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t might not be as quick and as overarching as we need or hope, but I think there is measurable progress.鈥�

Overall, Smith said these climate protests show how the importance of climate change issues has transformed into a core value of modern-day society.

鈥淭he messages that people were trying to convey back when I was at university now have been adopted as shared principles by younger generations,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t’s just an illustration of how there鈥檚 been a gradual impact of consistent advocacy, because what once might have appeared as a tangential idea has now been adopted as a core principle.鈥�