People Making a Difference: The Climate Activist Fighting the Fossil Fuel Giants

Nick Hodgkinson has a dark sense of humor, which comes in handy during his climate change activism.

Take the Time of the 59-year-old protesting with Extinction Rebellion outside the Houses of Parliament. Hodgkinson, a retired charity worker, has motor neurone disease (MND). He uses a heavy motorized wheelchair and has a tracheostomy tube in his neck that connects to a ventilator, meaning he communicates primarily by typing on his phone.

"The police moved forward," Hodgkinson recalls, "arresting people and taking them away." They then asked him to move, and when he refused, they also arrested him. Hodgkinson asked if they had a wheelchair accessible van. An embarrassed officer came out to check. The answer came back: no.

Instead of being sent to the police station, Hodgkinson and the 'officer stayed on the road for a few hours until his shift changed and Hodgkinson's battery was running low.' now," Hodgkinson says.

"He said, 'Wait, I have to stop you first.' Hodgkinson jokes that "a heavy wheelchair comes in handy for mistaking the police".

Hodgkinson has been involved in climate change activism after his health deteriorated to the point that he had to give up his job at Citizens Advice. "I thought, 'Now I have time to learn more [about the climate emergency],' so I took a few online courses."

What he learned was chilling. "This really could be the end of life as we know it," he says. "And the people who will be affected first, and the most badly, are those who have contributed the least to climate degradation: either because they are in countries that have been colonized and exploited by rich countries, or because that they are young, or even not yet born. Injustice motivates them to change the world as long as their health allows - MND severely limits a person's life expectancy.

He is active in the Fossil Fuel Free West Yorkshire Campaign, which is fighting for the West Yorkshire Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuels.Hodkingson is himself a member of the fund.

"Outrageously", he says, "the fund has invested millions in Shell and BP. The fund's bosses say they have a duty to take care of retirement savings, but pensions are first and foremost about old-age security. And investing in fossil fuels destroys everyone's security. (The fund previously said it was committed to maintaining a net-zero portfolio for its investments and reduced its oil and gas holdings.)

Five West Yorkshire councils - Calderdale, Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees and Wakefield - have passed motions asking the fund to divest from fossil fuels.

"There are great councilors who really understand," says Hodgkinson, "and make the arguments." But the lack of action by the pension fund itself is frustrating. "They say continuing to invest in BP and Shell is a good thing," he says, "because they can influence the decisions of those companies and get them to change their habits of relying on fossil fuels." He is skeptical.

"Nick is doing very poorly, but has been dedicated to using the time he has left to act on the climate emergency," says Chayley Collis , a Huddersfield-based climate campaigner. "He is a brilliant activist: very intelligent and organized. I am in total admiration for him and I find him a source of inspiration."/>< figure id="abcde7c9-fe79-4491-aa0a-312155c4612c" data- spacefinder-role="richLink" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement" class="dcr-1mfia18"/>

Through his activism, Hodgkinson found a sense of belonging and community. “I am a people person,” he says, “and life – especially my life – is too short to be wasted in the company of people who think Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are protecting freedom. I've always believed that when motivated people come together for a common cause, with shared values, they can move mountains."