A UNIVERSITY lecturer is going on his second hunger strike in three months to demonstrate the severity of the planet’s climate change crisis.

Dr Elia Valentini, who is a senior lecturer at the University of Essex, is refusing to eat for six days as part of a global protest organised by the Scientist Rebellion.

The 40-year-old, who has been lecturing for five years, went on hunger strike for three days during the first global action in March 2021 and recorded his strike on his social media pages.

He is now doubling the time spent on a hunger strike and plans to further escalate it, should he believe it necessary.

He said: “Leaders and politicians must bring about the urgent radical policies required to mitigate the already locked-in worsening of global warming and extreme weather, destruction of ecosystems and extinction of species.”

His concerns are that governments across the world have “failed already to meet their decarbonisation targets multiple times”.

Dr Valentini added: “Crucially, the forthcoming United Nations climate change conference will take place in the UK in November.

“The risk of further failure is around the corner, despite all the pledges that have been put forth by several governments.”

He said he hopes the hunger strike will help people become more aware of the climate crisis and perhaps take action themselves.

He added: “If those who understand the implications of scientific findings are unwilling to act, how can we expect the public to understand the severity of the crisis?”

This is why scientists around the globe, including Dr Valentini, are resorting to radical but non-violent actions to send out a stronger message about climate change.

The last rebellion saw more than 150 academics across 15 countries engage in direct actions. Scientist Rebellion’s aim is to convince the public that immediate action needs to be taken on the climate crisis before the damage is irreversible.

As well as a hunger strike, some academics will deviate from scheduled learning to tell students about the crisis.

Others will paste scientific papers about the issue on buildings with some committing criminal damage using paint.

Visit scientistrebellion.com for details.