They had warned everyone: on June 9, a punch action by Extinction Rebellion activists called "democracy without filter" was to take place in an undisclosed location in Paris.
It was in fact to occupy the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese), where sat the Citizen's Convention for the climate and which inspired the law which passes again this week in the Senate ... except that the forces of the order have guessed and the event has made pschitt.
But other actions, of this NGO like others, are planned.
After more than a year and a half of Covid, the young activists who are fighting to keep the thermometer at an acceptable level are finally getting their heads above water.
“This year, the health context has collapsed the mobilization, but not the movement, says the Franco-Swiss philosopher, Dominique Bourg.
Quite simply because global warming is here and we will very likely reach + 2 ° C by 2040. Not all of the youth, but some have got it and do not want to remain static.
"
Cascading canceled events
Cascading canceled events, isolation… The year was difficult for the climate sphere. “As for everyone”, relativizes Marin Bisson, 19-year-old Lyonnais, member of Youth For Climate, the movement created in the wake of the Swedish Greta Thunberg. We had to reinvent ourselves, no longer a question of organizing mass actions, especially during confinements. Video conferencing? “Going through the Internet for actions that require a high level of confidentiality was not ideal. “In Lyon, before the Covid, every Friday evening, the movement held place Guichard. In conclusion, "the year has been a little sad, very little has happened compared to what we would have liked", sighs the one who is passing his baccalaureate in a few days.
To read also "Less rich, more beehives", "stop screwing your sea" ... at the heart of the march for the climate in Paris
But the high school student well in his sneakers recognizes that continuing to phosphorate on the future has been "a psychological bonus".
Surely even more necessary for students.
“After the second confinement, in our premises, I was able to redo meetings, discuss slumped on the sofa.
A real breath of fresh air!
»Testifies Enzo Vavasseur, in geography license in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique).
The Covid-19 and the confinements have pushed young activists, like Marin Bisson in Lyon, to reinvent their actions.
LP / Nicolas Foray
The epidemic of difficulties and black ideas has struck beyond the fringe committed to the climate.
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Our mental and physical health have taken a hit, ”declares straightforward Léna Lazare, agroecology scholarship student and member of Youth For Climate.
Around her, everyone "hacked".
There was also a dropout among the militants.
But summer should mark the return of large gatherings.
Starting with the Youth For Climate meeting, which will take place in Nantes in early July.
"We will try to put the Covid behind us", wants to believe Enzo Vavasseur, the local of the stage.
"We are a mass movement"
The global pandemic has nevertheless reshuffled the cards. Many have refocused on very local struggles. “Not a bad thing,” according to the adopted Parisian, Marie Chureau, a law student in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). “In 2018, I got involved thinking about polar bears on the ice floe,” she smiles. However, damage to the environment is everywhere, including downstairs. »Alternatiba Strasbourg thus mobilized against an Amazon warehouse project in Ensisheim (Haut-Rhin) In Ile-de-France, Youth For Climate provided support to residents in the Triangle de Gonesse (Val-d'Oise) , struggling for years against a commercial mega-complex. Its young activists also fought for the preservation of the workers' gardens of Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis).
It was especially in March, to oppose the Climate law, that green youth began to take back their colors. On the 19th, while a march was organized by Youth For Climate on a planetary scale, the little French people rallied against the government text. On the 28th, another march supported by 86 associations (including Alternatiba, the Peasant Confederation, Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace) called for “a real climate law”.
Of the 200 local French groups of Youth For Climate, around fifty actively organized parades.
“We found families, joy, music… Frankly, it felt good.
And it reminded us that we are a mass movement too!
»Insists Marie Chureau.
Before the Covid, the momentum born of school strikes was questioning itself.
Today, he begins to have answers: "We are all children who have grown up, a social movement more than an NGO", judge Marie.
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Le Parisien-Today in France, France Culture, Science & Vie Junior and Usbek & Rica, four media with different approaches and readership, are joining forces to talk about the environment. Each month, we deal with a subject decided jointly. Pollution near schools, the problem of illegal dumping, antichasse reserve… Find all of our articles and multimedia content on social networks with the hashtag #SauverLePresent.