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Sustainability scientist Maja Göpel sees nothing radical in the actions of climate protesters and says we can all help to save the planet

- CATHRIN SCHAER

No, it's not just the planet heating up. It's a particular word - "radical" - that gets one of Germany's most influential environmentalists a little heated. "When you think about the tremendous costs of carrying on as usual, why do we use the term 'radical' for people who say we need to speed up the necessary changes?" Maja Göpel says. Her indignation is in response to being asked about recent controversial court cases that have seen German climate change protesters given jail time for gluing themselves to traffic intersections.

"It's actually radical to say we're going to carry on taking these risks when we really are nearing a lot of environmental tipping points."

Those tipping points include things like polar ice sheets collapsing or the demise of key biodiverse habitats such as the Amazonian rainforest. As Göpel, a political economist, sustainability researcher and co-founder of Scientists for Future, has previously pointed out, those changes will be irreversible and the future unpredictable.

According to the most recent report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we're well on the way to these points of no return. That's why the description of young environmentalists as "radical" annoys Göpel so much.

"All they're asking for is for politicians to match their stated goals and ambitions on climate change with behaviour," she says.