Could protesting for climate action damage doctors’ careers?

“It is a risk and sacrifice, but this is utterly my duty, and I don’t know how this could be seen as discrediting my profession,” Chris Newman, cofounder of the independent protest group Doctors for Extinction Rebellion, told The BMJ.

Newman, a salaried GP in north London, was one of four doctors arrested in September; he had glued himself to the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. Over 30 doctors took part in a non-violent protest against government inaction on climate heating and its global health consequences.

This came ahead of two weeks of mass protests by Extinction Rebellion (XR) in 23 cities worldwide, starting on 7 October.

But taking part in XR protests can have consequences: Newman says that at least 21 doctors have been arrested, and those who have accepted a caution or have been charged must refer themselves to the General Medical Council for investigation as well as inform their employers.

XR held its first international protest in April 2019, with the disruption dominating media coverage—and polarising public opinion. This was Newman’s first exposure to the movement.

Newman went in his scrubs, thinking that the media would find it harder to dismiss medical professional protestors as cranks. He started Doctors for XR when he realised the impact doctors could make, and 70 doctors joined within 24 hours.

“A lot of doctors are really scared for their kids. Not being confrontational just hasn’t worked, and they were deeply frustrated,” he says