Fridays for Future: Climate activist: Other crises unsettle people

According to its spokeswoman Carla Reemtsma, the climate movement Fridays for Future has recently lost support for its demonstrations due to other crises. With regard to the protests announced for today in more than 100 cities, Reemtsma told Deutschlandfunk that the climate movement is highly dependent on the political context.

“There are very big crises, be it the corona pandemic, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and then the inflation, the increased cost of living, the energy crisis, which of course are unsettling many, many people.” The movement does not blame anyone for dealing with other issues at the moment. “At the same time, it is quite clear that politicians have a responsibility to protect our livelihoods regardless of this.”

Before the start of the corona pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people in Germany took to the streets to protest for climate protection. It is difficult to estimate how many there would be today, said Reemtsma. Protests are planned in major cities such as Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Leipzig, but also in more rural areas. In Berlin, the activists want to demonstrate in front of the Chancellery.

Movement founded by Swede Thunberg

When asked whether the movement was missing its figurehead Greta Thunberg, Reemtsma said: “The good thing is that we have been a very broad-based movement from the beginning and we are now active again in over 110 cities, taking to the streets. I think you can see that we can protest very well in this way too.”

In 2018, Thunberg sat down in front of her school in Sweden for the first time and went on strike for climate protection – thus launching the Fridays for Future movement. Most recently, she came under criticism for her comments on Israel, which she accuses of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The German section of Fridays for Future distanced itself from the comments.