Hundreds of arrests at climate demos in London and Amsterdam

Focus on climate crisis

All articles | More information

Reporting on climate change is one of the major journalistic challenges of our time. The climate crisis is also one of the most important issues of humanity for SPIEGEL. For this reason, we support an international initiative that seeks to take a look this week: "Covering Climate Now" has been initiated by the Columbia Journalism Review and the Canadian newspaper "The Nation", with more than 200 media companies worldwide including the Guardian, El País, La Repubblica, The Times of India, Bloomberg or Vanity Fair. SPIEGEL is dedicating the cover story of the current issue to the climate crisis this week and every day pays special attention to mirror.de

Activists from the international protest coalition "Extinction Rebellion" have been protesting in several cities since Monday for a better climate protection policy - including street blockades. On the second day of action, numerous participants were arrested in London and Amsterdam.

According to Scotland Yard alone in the British capital 471 demonstrators were set by the afternoon. The police did not say how many demonstrators were in the British capital. Media came from about 30,000 participants in London. They danced, drummed and repeatedly made themselves heard with chants.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed to the demonstrators to stop the blockades. They should leave the capital with their "hemp-smelling bivouacs," said the head of government. Security guards had warned him against "uncooperative crustaceans" that littered the streets.

In Berlin, several hundred activists were waiting around the Siegessäule at the Großer Stern on Tuesday afternoon. There are about 600 officers in the city, 200 of them at the Great Star, said a police spokesman. The forces had cleared the occupied since Monday Potsdamer Platz in the morning, it remained peaceful. Also on Wednesday, the group announced actions in the capital.

Video: Protest on the Potsdamer Platz

Video

DPA

"Extinction Rebellion" (in German about: Rebellion against extinction) originally comes from the UK. According to own data the group exists since November last year also in Germany. Among other things, it demands that national governments immediately call out the climate emergency (you can read more about the movement here).

CSU leader Markus Söder expressed concern that "more radical ways in the climate movement" could occur. "If the protest is now spreading into more radical forms, that will scare off a large part of the population," he told the "Straubinger Tagblatt". FDP leader Christian Lindner had warned before the action began against allegedly anti-democratic and partly totalitarian features of the movement: "Beyond the extreme demands for climate protection, activists of the group openly question democracy."

Unlike Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement, the Extinction Rebellion activists say they are ready to break laws to enforce their demands. Roger Hallam, co-founder of the movement, told the "Spiegel" in September, "If a society acts so immoral, democracy becomes irrelevant, then there can only be direct action to stop it."

photo gallery

6 pictures

In Amsterdam, an important thoroughfare was blocked for hours on Monday. The police had then canceled the action - about 90 people had been arrested for the time being. On Tuesday, demonstrators blocked the entrance to the bank ABN Amro.

Several hundred activists occupied in Paris, according to the news channel BFMTV a central place near the Seine and a bridge. Of special incidents at night was no question. The environmentalist movement announced actions in major cities around the world for the week.