Suspended British climate activist doctor won’t stop protesting

Last month Dr. Sarah Benn became the first female doctor in the UK to be suspended from the medical register after being convicted and jailed for actions related to climate activism.

In an interview with The BMJShe says the activism that led to her suspension was necessary to raise alarm about the climate crisis and also consistent with a doctor’s mission to promote health and save lives.

“The world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the threat of climate and environmental collapse, and I believe my actions are a justified and proportionate effort to draw attention to the gravity and urgency of the situation,” she tells journalist Adele Waters .

Benn explains that two years ago she took part in peaceful protests to stop the government from issuing new oil licenses. She stood outside the Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire with a protest poster, violating an injunction that expressly banned protests against fossil fuel production and use outside the terminal.

After two violations, Benn spent eight days in custody and was sentenced to 32 days in prison for contempt of court after another violation in September 2022.

The court emphasized that professional rules do not prevent doctors from participating in peaceful protests, but rather require them to abide by the law. It concluded that Benn’s conduct did not meet the standards of conduct that should reasonably be expected of a doctor, which amounted to misconduct.

Benn is comfortable with the risk that further protests will lead to further conflicts with the law, but says: “As doctors, we are supposed to protect life and health; we should advocate for our patients. I will continue in everything. “As far as I can, I think it is the most effective way to get the government to change its climate-damaging policies.”

She also believes the General Medical Council (GMC) needs to rethink its rulebook when it comes to cases relating to climate change. “Times have changed – we are facing an existential threat to humanity,” she says. “I’m not asking to be sacked or to reverse the decision, but I think the GMC needs to wake up and find out why this happened. And how they might want to change things for the next doctor in my position who comes before them.”

She is not alone. Doctors’ organizations, including the British Medical Association and the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, remain concerned that her case could set a precedent for other doctors to protest peacefully.

However, the GMC is clear that the tribunal’s decision had nothing to do with climate change, but rather that Benn had broken the law.

Waters describes how Benn and her husband have made a number of lifestyle changes over the past 20 years to reduce their carbon emissions: They both eat a vegan diet; they have isolated their home; they don’t buy new; they don’t fly.

Then, in April 2019, when Extinction Rebellion called for everyone to take to the streets for an international rebellion protest, she and her family went out to learn more, talk to protesters and attend town hall meetings. From there, she joined a local group and soon began taking direct action.

But when it comes to success, Benn says: “Nothing has changed, emissions are still going up, the temperature is still going up.” Net Zero is “magical thinking.”

She predicts that it will take a series of extreme weather events coupled with food shortages for the government to finally take notice, and she has no doubt that society would expect doctors to lead the way on this issue. “The climate crisis is a health crisis, it is a threat to life, and we should take a leadership role,” she says.

“We should guide and show others how to live lives that reduce their own impact on the planet. But we should also use our voices as professionals to speak out about government inaction and the danger this poses to future generations.” “We understand the science and we cannot ignore it. It is our moral duty,” she argues.