Thursday 25 May 2023

Gary Lineker says climate protestors could be “heroes”

“I think it’s very worrying that we lock people up that are actually trying to make sure that we have some kind of future.

“[Climate change] should be the biggest issue of the day – and we should all be trying to turn governments on it. Not just relying on people that actually do stuff knowing they’ll be locked up and I kind of admire that in a way.”

That’s what former footballer and BBC Presenter Gary Lineker had to say in an interview with Channel 4 News, explaining his support for ongoing climate action and protests.

“I understand why people can get upset, because it’s disruptive demonstration. But history kind of tells you the only demonstrations that really work are disruptive ones,” Lineker said.

https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1661381960885841921?s=20

“It’s not a case of blaming our government for not doing enough on climate change, it’s the whole world. Governments and the powerful people of the world are the only ones that can really halt this disaster coming.”

His words come after it was reported earlier this week in Germany that police were carrying out raids across seven states to combat climate campaigners.

On a positive side, the Match of the Day host said: “There is hope there, we have brilliant scientists around the world. They understand the issue, they understand the ways that we can turn it around.

“But our overreliance on fossil fuels – we’ve got to find a way out of that. Because we’re gonna destroy the future for our children and their children.”

Data also surfaced this week detailing the carbon footprint of Premier League football clubs’ preseason tours across the world – with the researchers alleging that these tours have the same environmental impact as heating 2,400 homes for an entire year.

Gary Lineker said climate activists could be “heroes” if the world “manages to save this in 50 to 100 years.”