Climate activists cover Spain’s parliament building with red paint

OVIEDO, Spain

Dozens of climate activists covered Spain’s parliament building with red paint on Wednesday, protesting the government’s failure to act quickly enough on climate change.

Dozens of riot police tried to disperse the protesters, but they sat down, and refused to leave. Many were identified or dragged away by the police.

The protest comes on the heels of the publication of the final section of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report. In the report, leading scientists say the world can still fight the worst effects of climate change, but only with urgent actions.

“The report highlights the need to decrease emissions rapidly. We can’t wait until 2050. We need to do it within the next year. That's why we are here with some of the most prominent scientists in Spain,” said a protester in a video published on the activists' Instagram account.

“We believe civil disobedience is the way to get the topic on the agenda and force politicians to really hear what the scientific community has to say about the climate, about the planet and our future.”

The protesters, many of whom wore white lab coats, form part of the relatively new activist group called Scientist Rebellion.

Scientist Rebellion, which works within the framework of Extinction Rebellion, includes activists from a variety of scientific backgrounds.

It is organizing non-violent actions of civil disobedience around the globe until April 9. “If we scientists don’t act like we’re in an emergency, how can we expect the public to do so?” asks the group on its website.

At COP26 in Glasgow, more than 20 of the group’s activists chained themselves to the King George V Bridge and were all arrested.

In October, activists in Spain also pasted the pages of a past IPCC report all over the walls of Spain’s Ecological Transition Ministry.