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Former president Mary Robinson has warned Extinction Rebellion protesters that they risk alienating the public if they do not employ smart tactics.<\/p>\nFormer president Mary Robinson has warned Extinction Rebellion protesters that they risk alienating the public if they do not employ smart tactics.<\/p>\n
The UN Special Envoy on El Nino and Climate said disruption was necessary to affect change, but that it could take many forms.<\/p>\n
She also praised the work of Greta Thunberg, saying her address at the UN\u2019s Climate Action Summit last month brought her to tears.<\/p>\n
Dr Robinson said: \u201cI think what Greta and her generation are doing is humanizing the issue of climate change in a very vivid way.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause what they\u2019re saying \u2013 which is correct \u2013 is that we, the adults in the world, are not guaranteeing them a safe future; a livable future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the UN General Assembly during the Climate Action Summit, and when I heard her say \u2018you have stolen my childhood\u2019 \u2013 a 16-year-old \u2013 I cried, actually.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, this is not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to the PA news agency at the Aurora Forum in Yerevan, Armenia, Dr Robinson said climate change protests were one way of causing disruption, but that the most effective method was through investors, asset managers, and pension funds.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI see no significant move on the part of the emitters to change.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I now feel it\u2019s time for disruption \u2013 and disruption takes many forms.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisruption can be litigation, disruption can be shareholder questions at meetings, disruption of a very effective thought can be when investors are warning about being invested in stranded assets.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd disruption can be bottom up \u2013 the schoolchildren, the young people, the Extinction Rebellion, the women leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the most effective is the investors. If they can really move that needle, it can move very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about Extinction Rebellion protests in London last week which saw public transport targeted, Mrs Robinson said the activists need to keep people on side.<\/p>\n
She explained: \u201cI hope they will be very smart about their tactics, because if they alienate the public that will put us a step backwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, on the whole, they have been quite clever they\u2019ve been funny.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been apologetic for the disruption caused because they don\u2019t want to alienate the public. But then there are some who want to go further.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is very, very important that the public display of disruption is seen by the public as being in their interests, and that has happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if they lose that, that would be very serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Robinson was appointed to oversee UN efforts to tackle climate change in 2014.<\/p>\n