Scientist Marthe Wens (32) is active in Scientist Rebellion. She learned to protest step by step. ‘At first, I watched from the sidelines until I was ready to take action myself.’

One day Marthe Wens is researching the effects of drought. The next day, she is blocking the A12 motorway in The Hague to demand an end to fossil fuel subsidies. Wens is a lecturer at the Institute for Environmental Studies at the Free University of Amsterdam and an activist with Scientist Rebellion, a sister organisation of Extinction Rebellion. ‘When we take action, we always win’, says Wens. ‘Either we achieve our goal and get our message across, or we get media attention, for example when our right to demonstrate is taken away and the police repress us, and even then we get our message out.’

Wens’ activist drive was fuelled by her work. Something clicked when the drought researcher met with policymakers in Botswana a few years ago to discuss the increasing risk of drought and its impact on agriculture. ‘No matter how well people adapt to drought, the consequences keep coming. That’s why I advised them to tackle the root cause: climate change.’ Then came the moment of truth. ’How can I, as a Western scientist, tell the people of Botswana that they need to fight climate change when the Dutch government doesn’t even keep its own climate promises?