There is an alternative to disruptive climate protest

‘The most effective thing to do now … is to meet people where they are, and bring the majority with us.’ Extinction Rebellion of climate activists staging a ‘die-in’ protest in Glasgow city centre at the weekend to demand action after the UK recorded its highest ever temperatures. Photograph: Extinction Rebellion/PA

Re John Harris’s article (Berating climate sceptics isn’t enough – disruptive protest now seems the only way forward, 24 July), it’s true that disruptive protest has been invaluable in breaking out of the crushing dead end that mainstream environmental activism had got stuck in. I’m proud to have helped launch Extinction Rebellion (XR), which, along with Greta Thunberg, most facilitated that breakout. But does disruptive protest remain the only way forward?

Harris appears to suppose that the only alternatives are either to back the radical flank or to be, at best, timid incrementalists. But the emerging moderate-flank strategy supposes something different: that the most effective thing to do now – while not shying away from how grim things are – is to meet people where they are and bring the majority with us. The radical flank is not capable of doing this. It (we) briefly did in April-May 2019, but such wonderful moments are rare. There’s been such pushback against the radical flank that it’s not now credible to suppose that it can actually win.