The head of the CSU deputy in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, calls for tougher penalties for the climate activists of the “last generation”. “Climate protest must not be a license to commit crimes,” he told the “Bild am Sonntag”. “Much tougher penalties are needed for climate chaos in order to counteract further radicalization in parts of this climate movement and to deter imitators. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also criticized the form of the protest. Meanwhile, activists in Amsterdam and Madrid took care of new actions stir.
According to the “Bild am Sonntag”, the Union faction in the Bundestag wants to introduce a motion for tougher penalties for climate activists who block roads or obstruct the passage of the police, fire brigade and rescue services.
In Berlin, a cyclist was hit and run over by a truck last Monday. According to the fire brigade, a special vehicle that was supposed to help free the injured person under the truck was stuck in a traffic jam on the city highway. This is said to have been triggered by an action by the climate protest group “Last Generation”.
Emergency doctor: No hindrance to the rescue
However, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported, citing an emergency memo, that according to the emergency doctor treating it, the fact that the car was not available had no effect on the rescue of the injured woman. According to the police and the public prosecutor’s office, the cyclist died on Thursday from her serious injuries.
Chancellor Scholz clearly criticized the protests of the group “Last Generation”. “I’m happy to admit that I don’t think it’s a good thing if works of art are somehow painted or thrown at with mush,” said Scholz on Saturday at the SPD debate convention in Berlin when asked how to create more understanding for the activists’ concerns could. Scholz said you have to think about what you do with actions. He believes that the opposite of their concerns will be achieved if activists stick to the street and obstruct traffic.
Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) told the “Bild am Sonntag” when asked how long politics would allow climate activists: “We’re taking action. In Berlin, there are more than 700 criminal proceedings against climate activists, of which only one has so far been discontinued. More than 240 penal orders have already been issued.” According to Tübingen’s mayor, Boris Palmer, the activists are going too far. He told the “Tagesspiegel am Sonntag”: “They are trying to override the basic rules of our coexistence and are endangering human lives.”
Protests continue
Meanwhile, protests continued in other metropolitan areas. At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, 500 activists managed to break through a fence at a parking lot on Saturday and thus get onto the airport site. According to the police, the Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion groups blocked private jets at the airport. Some also chained themselves to planes. According to their own statements, the police arrested around 200 people.
In Madrid, two activists taped themselves to the frames of two famous paintings by Spanish master Francisco de Goya at the Prado Museum. On the wall between the paintings “The Naked Maja” and “The Clothed Maja” they wrote “1.5 C”, as could be seen on video images. The Paris climate agreement of 2015 sets the goal of stopping global warming at 1.5 degrees if possible and thus preventing the worst consequences of climate change. However, it is now considered likely that the climate will warm up much faster.
