Grassroot movements allow stakeholders to voice their own concerns and seek reparations or empowerment for a safe and enriching place to live, work and play. This could take various forms as discussed by Parekh (2025), Zamorska (2025) and Roberto (2025): community led resistance like the Narmada Bachao Andolan in India; legal recourse through private law cases like that against Shell in the Hague District Court; or demands for legislation through sit-ins and occupations like those conducted in Switzerland against financing fossil fuels. The presence of diverse voices in movements is vital for an exchange of ideas to take place and to allow for affected communities to specify the exact change they wish to see (Roberto, 2025). Parekh (2025) emphasised that spaces of resistance in affluent and majority white countries like Switzerland should be open and inclusive to participation of individuals who are not white, upper-middle class, or college educated. It is also important for activists to not remain contained in the bubble of their movement and be open to dialogues with people who do face threat from climate change but might not term it exactly as climate change: for example, a farmer who sees their crops failing due to change in temperature, but does not want to stop using a tractor that consumes diesel. A dialogue is possible on the common ground of changing temperatures, which may have positive spillovers. The tractor need not be the main problem (Parekh, 2025; Roberto, 2025).
Climate Justice: Basel in the World is a colloquium at the University of Basel, co-organized in the spring semester 2025 by students from the AG Nachhaltigkeit and Prof. Dr. Janina Grabs. It is supported through funding by Impuls.