The science on the climate crisis has been clear for decades – and the solutions have been known. However, putting words into action will require such a profound, collective change to our way of life that it faces nearly insurmountable resistance. Recognising the acute gap between words and action, Elokapina (Extinction Rebellion) is creating nonviolent mass civil disobedience to raise the alarm, to remind governments of their obligations, and to demand real climate action.

Till Sawala is a physicist and docent at the University of Helsinki. In his view, the climate crisis as an existential threat to humanity. Not content with sleepwalking to disaster, and not consenting with the current politics of inaction, he joined Elokapina in 2019, where he organises and participates in nonviolent civil disobedience.

Here are a few words from Till about his participation in Orange Alert: “I will talk about the inadequacy of current climate politics in Finland, naming a few examples, and about the sheer scale of the problem. I'll introduce the concept of nonviolent civil disobedience; why it works, and why, in my view, we are in a situation where it's justified. I'll speak about what we mean by nonviolence, what brought me to Elokapina, and show a few examples of what we have done.”

“Despite all this, the situation of containing global warming to manageable levels is nearly hopeless - but rather than experiencing paralysis, when you are no longer measuring success or failure by reaching a specific goal, you can also experience freedom to simply do the right thing. That's what we are trying to do in Elokapina,” is Till's closing message.

Text & photo: Till Sawala

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