From BZ/dpa
After months of announcements, the Last Generation Climate Adhesives have started new action weeks in Berlin. Permanent “drama” was announced.
On Wednesday, several hundred climate extremists demonstrated in the city center. The demonstration, which deliberately moved very slowly to hold up traffic, started at midday in Moabit and moved through the city center near the government district. The police spoke of around 200 participants.
“Away from Fossil – Toward Justice,” read their banners. The activists had previously gathered in a church.
“Turning point – there are many of us – and from now on the city will become more orange every day,” said the Last Generation on the Internet. The color referred to the high-visibility vests that many of them wear during road blockades. The demonstration was accompanied by the police.
In an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the group wrote: “We are in the middle of a climate catastrophe. People die every day as a result. We are witnessing how crucial elements are beginning to tip over, how the Amazon is dying, the Gulf Stream is drying up, the Arctic is melting.” Scholz’s address went on to say: “You don’t dare to initiate the turnaround. (…) Because you don’t dare to say and do things that are initially unpopular. (…) We demand that you no longer duck your responsibilities.” Comprehensive change is necessary.
“We will not leave Berlin”
On Friday the climate gluers want to support the strike and a demonstration by Fridays for Future. Starting next Monday (September 18th), the Last Generation wants to start numerous protests and road blockades. It was said that “hundreds of people” would come to Berlin from all over Germany. “We will not leave Berlin until there is a political change.”
The group demands that Germany stop using fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas from 2030. The federal government is aiming for a climate-neutral economy by 2045.
Since spring 2022, the Last Generation has been protesting in many German cities with road blockades in which participants glue themselves to the road. Drivers often react angrily and sometimes with violence. The demonstrators are regularly removed from the streets by police, and many have been convicted of coercion and other crimes.