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Climate activists protest against the expansion of freeways

2023-02-03T17:06:26.595Z


Luisa Neubauer in Berlin, a huge stop sign on Hamburg's Jungfernstieg: there have been protests by climate activists in several major German cities - against the further expansion of motorways.


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Luisa Neubauer: »The concept for the A100 in Berlin comes from the 1950s«

Photo: Carsten Koall / dpa

Activists from the Fridays for Future climate movement have protested against the expansion of the A100 city motorway in

Berlin

.

“The concept for the A100 in Berlin dates back to the 1950s.

There was a time when blind paving could be sold as modern transport policy.

That time is over, fortunately," said climate activist Luisa Neubauer at a rally on the Hatun-Sürücü Bridge on Friday.

According to a dpa reporter, around 40 activists protested at the rally within sight of the construction site of the city motorway, which is currently being expanded.

Statements such as "Berlin wants climate" and "Politics for today instead of yesterday's traffic jams" could be read on posters.

The expansion of the A100 city motorway is controversial.

The Federal Ministry of Transport wants to expand the Autobahn to Berlin-Lichtenberg, but environmental groups are opposed to it.

Rallies by the climate movement against the federal government’s transport policy were also announced in other cities in Germany on Friday – for example in Stuttgart, Munich and Cologne.

In front of the Federal Ministry of Transport in

Bonn

there was also a protest action against the expansion of motorways.

About 50 people attended, police said.

They held up red cards that read "No New Autobahns."

Supporters of Fridays for Future painted a huge stop sign on Hamburg's Jungfernstieg to demonstrate against the further expansion of the Autobahn.

The environmental movement in

Hamburg

said it would remove the easily washable paint itself after a day.

There was also an action by the so-called "Last Generation" - activists stuck to the street at the Kennedy Bridge to demand more ambition in climate protection.

According to the police, there was a massive backlog.

Around a hundred people are said to have demonstrated

in

Stuttgart

and

Freiburg .

"Politics are discussing that motorways should be built faster - that's unrealistic," said a spokeswoman for Fridays for Future in Stuttgart.

Very few people in Germany benefit from such an expansion, there are 13 million adults alone and just as many children who do not have a driver's license.

In addition, many people lived in poverty.

"Of course, driving a car means freedom for Wissing," the spokeswoman criticized Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).

»But for many others, freedom is something completely different.« Especially people who don't have it so easy in society are neglected.

The statement that more roads would not produce more traffic has also been refuted.

"Once again, facts and science were ignored because people like to pay for fossil energy," said the Stuttgart branch of Fridays for Future.

With dark clothing and a funeral march, activists held

a symbolic funeral in

Wiesbaden .

It was intended to commemorate the clearing of the town of Lützerath and the clearing of the Fechenheim forest.

The political art action with around 80 participants was peaceful, the police said in the afternoon.

The demonstrators marched through the city from Wiesbaden Central Station with a cardboard coffin.

In front of the town hall, they stripped off their black clothes and ran back colorfully dressed, as reported by the climate movement in Wiesbaden.

“A part of us is lost with Lützerath and the Fechenheim Forest, but not our hope.

Our resistance has done a lot and must continue,” said a Fridays for Future spokeswoman.

There will be more actions in the coming week: Two days before the repeat elections to the Berlin House of Representatives, Fridays for Future is calling for a "major strike" on February 10 - the organizers are expecting numerous participants in front of the Red City Hall.

wit/dpa

Source: spiegel

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