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IN PICTURES: Thousands stage climate protests across Germany

Tens of thousands of people rallied in cities across Germany on Friday at climate protests urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to do more for environmental protection.

The Fridays for Future movement and other activists march in Berlin on September 15, 2023.
The Fridays for Future movement and other activists march in Berlin on September 15, 2023. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Bearing posters with slogans like “System change — not climate change” or “I’d be in school if the planet was cool”, around 12,000 people marched in Berlin alone in a demonstration organised by the Fridays for Future movement.

Huge crowds reaching 10,000 also turned up in major cities including Hamburg and Munich.

A Greenpeace activist protests with a banner reading “Gas destroys” near a detail of a depiction of the “See no evil” Wise Monkey, representing the German SPD party chancellor, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on September 15, 2023. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)
 

Once a regular event for students holding “school strikes”, the Friday rallies have become less frequent in Germany lately, with some climate activists turning instead to more radical modes of protests, such as holding sit-ins at busy road junctions or on highways.

Activists in Berlin hold a banner calling for an end to fossil fuels. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Paul Guenther, 19, said he had turned up at the Berlin rally to condemn “the dishonesty of our chancellor with regard to the climate crisis”.

“A council of experts had calculated that the government’s targets are too weak and even then, they can’t even meet them with what they’re doing,” the geography university student said.

German climate activist Luisa Neubauer speaks on stage during the protest at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on September 15, 2023. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

READ ALSO: Germany starts building 700 km wind energy power line

Retiree Birgit Martens, 65, also noted that the government “is not doing enough to meet its own climate targets”.

“Our planet is under threat and the government is not taking enough action against the current climate crisis,” said Josephine Paeder, 38, who works in the public transport sector.

The Fridays for Future movement and other activists march with banners inspired by the Barbie hype reading “Your climate protection law is not kenough!”, “Kenergy instead of LNG!”, “This Barbie wants a strengthened climate protection law”, on September 15, 2023 in Berlin (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Germany has set a goal of becoming climate neutral by 2045, with emissions to be slashed by 65 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2030.

Member comments

  1. Bullshit. The only ones impacted by these useless protests are us, the average Joe who can’t run errands freely because of the jobless people blocking public streets. I can’t imagine a parallel universe where Wolksvagen looks at those protests and does something about it. The solution lies somewhere else.

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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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