Thread by @FerRacimo

I never thought I'd see the day: I'm an associate professor in Denmark, and I've just been blocked from entering a conference that I paid to attend. Here’s a thread that gets oilier and murkier as you scroll down… 👇🔥⚫️ #dkpol #dkmedier #dkgreen 1/n

Some background: as an academic, a climate activist and a concerned citizen, I follow the science on the climate crisis. I read the IPCC reports, follow papers on climate projections and study the progress (or lack thereof) made to avoid ecological breakdown this century. 2/n

Given my concerns about the crisis, I decided to attend the annual "Offshore Conference" @OlieGasDK in Denmark: an annual gathering of oil and gas executives, and top government officials, to discuss plans for the "green transition". 3/n

The politicians attending include Anne Paulin @Spolitik, @rasmushelveg @radikale, @JuulMona @KonservativeDK, @ThDanielsen @venstredk. Also attending are heads of some of the biggest polluters and pollution facilitators in the world: Total, Noreco Oil, Semco, NorSea, Rystad. 4/n

This is an opportunity for oil & gas companies to present themselves as "green" by discussing unrealistic solutions (carbon capture at laughable scales) and coddle with politicians, while planning production of oil in the North Sea and gas infrastructure (the #BalticPipe). 5/n

The conference was "open to the public", so I and several scientists decided to sign up to this meeting, to join the debate, present scientific papers and ask questions like: "Why are you choosing to ignore IPCC warnings, which call for rapid and immediate decarbonization? 6/n

This was not cheap: I paid 630 danish kroner (= approx. 100 US dollars) out of pocket to attend. The rules of the conference are clear: having paid, I have as much of a right to be there as a politician or an oil lobbyist. 7/n

So imagine my surprise yesterday, when I got this email, saying that due to "recent circumstances", my registration was no longer valid. I'm assuming the “recent circumstances” are the scientist protests at the Climate Ministry from a month ago:

https://twitter.com/FerRacimo/status/1452616574536462350?s=20

8/n

This is not an isolated event: @laurahorn and other academics were also blocked from attending, as were members of Baltic Pipe Nej Tak and @CollapseTotalDK: basically any scientist or member of the public planning to ask uncomfortable questions at the conference. 9/n

This is another instance of academic censorship at both industry+government levels in Denmark, targeting researchers who dare to expose scientific issues that are deemed "problematic" by the government or industry leaders, see e.g. videnskab.dk/forskerzonen/k… 10/n #dkviden

So today I'll stand outside the conference w/other scientists (12pm DR Koncerthuset), holding banners to protest that oil & gas executives - who refuse to listen to science - are given preferential access to politicians, while scientists are left at the door. n/n @ScientistRebel1

For the Danish-language version of this thread, see @LauraLoHorn, who was also blocked from the same conference:

https://twitter.com/LauraLoHorn/status/1465949443296010240?s=20