Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Scientists quit government to ‘speak out’ on biodiversity crisis

SCIENTISTS who quit working for the government after feeling they had “no opportunity to make real change” have now turned to climate campaigning to demand action. 

In a protest on Friday morning, former employees and advisers for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), pasted posters on the department’s windows.

The group said the posters were aimed at highlighting the government’s “failure to deliver” on its promises to address the “dramatic” decline in species and natural habitats. 

One of the activists, Dr Laura Thomas-Walters, a conservation social scientist, said: “I left my job as a senior analyst at Defra this year because I felt I had no opportunity to make real change. 

“I worked with wonderful colleagues, smart scientists, but we were stymied by a lack of ministerial support.

“Civil servants are there to serve at the discretion of their ministers, and without buy-in from the government we couldn’t work on vital issues.”

The group, who are members of Extinction Rebellion, said that the action was not directed at Defra staff, who are “doing a crucial job in difficult conditions,” but ministers who they argue are stopping scientists from doing their jobs. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
ACTION: A Fossil Free London activist disrupts the 2023 Shel
Features / 9 November 2024
9 November 2024
As a new report reveals how dire the climate situation is now, other recent research demonstrates how activism – namely Extinction Rebellion and the school strikes – has already forced governments into action, writes IAN SINCLAIR
Climate campaigners from Extinction Rebellion Scotland prote
Features / 6 October 2024
6 October 2024
Insurers and regulators now openly ignore the ecological crisis as they continue to support contributors to climate breakdown, and British law is on their side — that’s why XR will be targeting them again, writes TOM HARDY