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CLIMATE CRISIS

Berlin police call for consequences as climate protesters glue themselves to streets

On Monday morning, climate protesters from the 'Last Generation' glued themselves to major streets. Police and politicians called for tougher penalties against the group, who bill themselves as carrying out civil disobedience.

A climate activist who taped his hand to a highway exit ramp at Innsbrucker Platz in Berlin is cut loose by police officers.
A climate activist who taped his hand to a highway exit ramp at Innsbrucker Platz in Berlin is cut loose by police officers. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

Climate activists from the group “Last Generation” blocked important motorway access roads in Berlin on Monday morning. Police were deployed at six locations, which opened up again for regular traffic by the afternoon.

Both police and politicians pleaded for tougher measures against the protesters, who have been taking various actions around Germany, ranging from climbing monuments to unfurl signs to glueing themselves to airport tarmacs. The group has grabbed nationwide headlines after it blocked planes from landing at both Berlin and Munich’s airports.

READ ALSO: Munich airport forced to close runway due to climate protest

Berlin’s police on Monday called for up to seven days of detention following their road-blocking protest actions, which the group themselves bills as pacifist but that opponents say put the public in potentially dangerous and costly traffic situations.

Some of the protests have also carried heavier financial costs, such as when two protesters threw mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting. Both protesters were arrested for trespassing and property damage.

READ ALSO: German climate activists pour mashed potatoes on €111 million Monet work

The “Last Generation” has been taking radical actions almost daily for the past year in order to draw attention to climate change and call on society to take urgent action. 

Some, such as Monday’s demo, are in the form of blockade actions on streets, where activists glue themselves to the roadway. The group itself reported on Monday that they had blocked roads at five locations in Berlin; in addition, a 72-year-old man chained himself to a gantry over a motorway.

The group’s demands include a speed limit of 100 km per hour on motorways, a nationwide nine-euro ticket and a general renunciation of fossil fuels such as coal. 

Proportional punishment?

Protestant Bishop Christian Stäblein called on rbb24 Inforadio to engage more with the concerns and to enter into dialogue. 

“This does not mean legitimising the breaking of the law,” he said, “but society has shown a certain sluggishness when it comes to climate protection.”

But CDU parliamentary group leader Kai Wegner, on the other hand, called for a hard line against the protesters.

Munich has been taking consistent action against the “climate gluers,” said Wegner. He pointed out that Bavaria’s capital bans their protest actions on roads important for emergency services and on bridges.

“Berlin’s interior senate should order the same in Berlin,” Wegner said.

Berlin’s police union also said it was the task of politicians to “secure social peace.”

According to spokesman Benjamin Jendro, “The possibility of detention for four or seven days would do its part and prevent our colleagues from having to go out every day in wind and [bad] weather with plenty of cooking oil.” The latter is used to loosen the adhesive on the roadway.

Currently, according to the police, activists can be taken into custody for up to 48 hours as a precaution. In Bavaria, such preventive detention is possible for up to 30 days. 

This long period has sparked a debate about the proportionality of the consequences in the two major capitals.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

German climate activists end lengthy hunger strike

A group of German environmental activists on Thursday ended a long-running hunger strike to force the government to do more to tackle the climate crisis.

German climate activists end lengthy hunger strike

The protest began in early March under the motto “starving until you tell the truth”, when the first member of the group, Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick, stopped eating.

The 49-year-old went on hunger strike for a total of 92 days and was admitted to hospital in early June – although he reportedly continued the action for several days afterwards.

Another seven people joined the fast over the weeks, with the group setting up a camp in a central Berlin park.

Some started eating again in recent weeks and the rest announced they will now end their hunger strike.

Their statement said the action was to highlight that “the continued existence of human civilisation is endangered by the climate catastrophe”, urging a “radical” change of course.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz  called for an end to the strike at the end of May, saying it was not the right way to spur debate about whether Germany was doing enough to tackle climate change.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW – ‘Failed climate policies are fuelling far-right politics in Germany’

Climate activists have resorted to some eye-catching stunts to get their message across in Germany.

Protesters from the radical group known as Letzte Generation (“Last Generation”) have repeatedly sat down on busy roads and glued their hands to the tarmac.

Protesters have also thrown mashed potatoes over a Claude Monet painting in Potsdam and glued themselves to an exhibition of a dinosaur skeleton at Berlin’s Natural History Museum.

READ ALSO: Record heat deaths and floods – How Germany is being hit by climate change

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