“Unite behind Science” and “We are here, We are loud because you’re stealing our future!”—two slogans you can hear every Friday at the climate change demonstrations that “Fridays for Future” has been holding for over a year. Maja Göpel and Gregor Hagedorn from the coordination team of “Scientists for Future” (scientists4future.org) ask how science and activism fit together.

Scientists are first and foremost responsible for their scientific work—as far as possible free of ideology, prejudice, and political intentions. Science must not presume to set social or political goals. Scientists for Future stands by these values. However, scientists must fulfill their social responsibility when political goals are formulated that ignore scientifically developed options or if “alternative facts” are cited.

Scientists can use their knowledge of relationships in nature and society to describe options for sustainable future scenarios and promising paths towards them. Together with all parts of our society, we can accept the invitation of the young generation to wake up from an illusory reality and to enter into a new social agreement across specializations and age groups. That sounds big, and it is. Because the next ten years are crucial for what our reality will look like in the future, according to Maja Göpel and Gregor Hagedorn.

• Ein Weiter‐so ist keine Option (in German),
  Maja Göpel, Gregor Hagedorn
  Nachr. Chem. 2020.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/nadc.20204096781