Shortly before the general election, Fridays for Future mobilized.
The climate strike is taking place in more than 350 German locations.
And worldwide.
The climate movement Fridays for Future has called for demonstrations and rallies around the world.
The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg will take part in the demonstration in Berlin.
Annalena Baerbock (Greens) appeared in Cologne
(see update from September 24th, 12:39 p.m.)
, Olaf Scholz * (SPD) described the climate strike as correct
(see update from September 24th, 2:20 p.m.).
All information about the climate strike in our news ticker.
Update from September 24th, 5.30 p.m.:
In hundreds of German cities today, shortly before the general election, demonstrations of the Fridays for Future movement took place.
According to the movement itself, demonstrations for more consistent climate protection took place at almost 500 locations across Germany.
Thousands of participants came together in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.
Celebrities like Jan Delay or the band AnnenMayKantereit also supported the demonstrations.
Other organizations such as Amnesty International and the Evangelical Church in Germany also took part in the demonstrations.
Fridays for Future put the total number of demonstrators at 620,000.
However, the police's estimates of the number of participants differed greatly from those of the organizers.
Despite strong criticism: Chancellor candidates Scholz (SPD) and Laschet (CDU) supported Fridays for Future
In Berlin, young people in particular wandered through the city with posters on which there were statements such as "Natural laws are not subject to any legislature" or "What Abi if I have no future anyway !?"
At all demonstration locations, demonstrations were made to implement climate protection measures that limit a global temperature increase to one and a half degrees Celsius - this goal was internationally agreed in the 2015 Paris Climate Protection Agreement.
The German parties were criticized in the course of today's demonstrations.
No election program is sufficient to achieve the climate goals.
Chancellor candidates Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Armin Laschet (CDU) expressed their support for the demonstrations, but did not get off well with them.
In Berlin, posters with inscriptions such as “Moin Olaf, 9.5 billion euros tax advantage for diesel - don't you want to tackle that?” Were carried through the city.
An inflatable figure with Laschet's facial features also read: “Climate protection at CDU / CSU?
Nothing but hot air. ”Meanwhile, Annalena Baerbock joined the environmental activists on the sidelines of the Fridays for Future demonstration in Cologne and spoke to them.
Luisa Neubauer: "The coming legislative period is historic"
The great importance of the Bundestag election on this Sunday was emphasized by the demonstrators - for example by the well-known activist Luisa Neubauer: "The coming legislative period is historic". However, no advertising was made for a specific party. Neubauer merely pointed out that it was important to vote in a climate-conscious manner and mentioned the latest election program analysis by the German Institute for Economic Research. This sees the Greens in first place in the overall assessment of the climate protection plans and the FDP in last place
Meanwhile, government spokesman Seibert referred to progress in the face of the protests. According to his statement, the government has increased its efforts to achieve new climate targets. Overall, there is a new dynamic in Germany and on a European level. Today's demonstrations in Germany were part of a worldwide climate strike by Fridays for Future in more than a hundred countries. A total of eight such global climate strikes have taken place since 2019.
Update from September 24th, 4:14 pm:
The Swedish initiator of Fridays for Future, Greta Thunberg, described Germany as “one of the greatest climate villains” shortly before the general election.
"Germany is the fourth largest carbon dioxide emitter in history, and that with a population of 80 million people," Thunberg said on Friday in front of the Bundestag.
"Objectively speaking, Germany is one of the greatest climate villains."
In her speech, which was accompanied by applause and approval, she called for a change in the "system".
You cannot "invest, build or buy" yourself out of the crisis, according to Thunberg.
"And the longer they pretend we can solve the crisis within today's system, the more time we lose."
Thousands of demonstrators gathered on the meadow in front of the Reichstag on Friday, and the German climate activist Luisa Neubauer also spoke.
Thunberg left the area in front of the Reichstag building together with Neubauer under police protection, as a dpa reporter reported.
Three men had previously harassed and insulted the climate activist.
Climate strike in Germany: Laschet turns to Fridays For Future - "Warm regards"
Update from September 24, 3:31 p.m
.: Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet * has promised more speed in climate protection in view of the demonstrations of Fridays for Future. Laschet said on Friday in a message on Instagram that Fridays for Future is today in many places for the climate. "For the CDU it is very clear, and not just since today: Germany must become faster and better in terms of climate protection." The goal is to achieve climate neutrality worldwide as quickly as possible. This is a task that can only be solved globally.
"We in Germany have to show that we are the fastest, that we are the best, that we have the best technologies to convert our entire economy to climate neutrality." At the same time, jobs must be preserved.
Laschet also pointed out that Germany was withdrawing from lignite.
More power plants would be shut down in the next year.
"Here, too, we need more speed."
Saving CO2 is the task of this decade, said Laschet shortly before the election.
As Federal Chancellor, he wants to drive this process forward, preserve jobs and achieve climate neutrality.
“So that we have a world that is also worth living in for future generations.” Lachet concluded his brief statement with a “warm greeting” to everyone who was now outside.
Climate strike in Germany today / Scholz: "It is correct that there is a climate strike today"
Update from September 24th, 2:20 p.m.:
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz called the protests for more climate protection as correct.
“I am grateful for the commitment of Fridays For Future.
You helped ensure that climate protection is high on the agenda.
I say explicitly: It is correct that there is a climate strike today.
Climate policy is one of the important issues that will be decided in this election! ”He wrote on Twitter.
Thousands of people across Bavaria took to the streets on Friday for more climate protection. In Munich alone, according to the police, around 12,000 people came to the protest by the Fridays for Future movement. "We are a lot more than we expected," said the organizer's spokeswoman, Cosima Schaaf. Be pleasantly surprised. Originally, Fridays had only expected about 5000 participants in the Bavarian capital for Future. Protest marches are also planned in several other cities in the Free State and in the rest of Germany on Friday two days before the election to emphasize the demand for rapid and decisive measures for climate protection.
In Baden-Württemberg, too, many are drawn to the streets: In Freiburg, an estimated more than 10,000 participants are present in the protests, said a police spokesman.
However, there could be a lot more in the course of the afternoon.
According to the police, several thousand were also roaming the city center in Stuttgart.
The organizers spoke of 15,000 participants.
Baerbock on the climate strike before the federal election - thousands in front of the Reichstag building
Update from September 24, 12:39 p.m
.: Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock * will also run a climate demo this Friday
(see first report)
.
The Green Chancellor candidate came unannounced to one of the meeting places of the environmental activists in Cologne, reports the news agency dpa.
In the afternoon, Baerbock is expected to end her party's nationwide election campaign in Düsseldorf.
At noon, according to the AFP news agency, thousands of people gathered on the meadow in front of the Reichstag building where the Bundestag is located.
A train was planned through the government district and a rally in front of the Reichstag building in the afternoon.
The Swedish initiator of "Fridays for Future", Greta Thunberg (18), has also been announced as a speaker.
Here she can be seen with her German colleague Luisa Neubauer (25):
+
The “Fridays for Future” activists Luisa Neubauer (left) and Greta Thunberg on the climate strike in Berlin.
© Tobias Schwarz / AFP
Fridays for Future: Teachers' Association criticizes the participation of students in climate strikes
Update from September 24th, 7:28 am
: "We reject compulsory schooling in favor of political actions - for example in the context of a so-called climate strike -", teacher association president Heinz-Peter Meidinger told the
RND
newspapers on Friday.
"Otherwise, the question arises for which political actions one would get free from school and for which not," Meidinger told the newspapers on.
"Is it allowed to take a day off from school at a demonstration against world hunger, for peace in the world, for the liberation of Palestine or against 'foreign infiltration'?" Asked Meidinger.
The school should not differentiate between “good” and “bad” actions.
Climate strike before federal election: Teachers' association criticizes participation of students
According to the report, Meidinger pointed out that signals against climate change could also be set in schools "without skipping lessons".
As an example, he cited the involvement of children and young people in school working groups, activities in the classroom and school debates.
“School and commitment to a better environment are not mutually exclusive”.
Meidinger, however, pleaded for prudence in the possible punishment of climate strikers.
"In the case of one-time violations of compulsory schooling within the framework of Fridays for Future, the response should not be excessive, but rather appropriate," he told the RND.
“For example, by having the affected students make up for the lessons they missed”.
Greta Thunberg shortly before the federal election in Berlin: Huge “Fridays for Future” protests all over Germany
First report from September 23
: Germany - the federal election * is pending - and the climate crisis is the sword of Damocles that hovers over it. Two days before the cut-off date on Sunday (September 26th), “Fridays for Future” creates a good atmosphere again. In more than 350 locations in Germany, calls are made to take part in demonstrations and rallies and to mobilize against the climate crisis.
The demonstrations in Germany are part of a global climate strike in more than a thousand cities.
According to a report by the
Tagesspiegel
, Greta Thunberg * will take part in a demonstration in Berlin.
According to the newspaper, the Swedish activist stressed that the protest was not intended as an advertisement for any particular party.
"We are not lobbyists for the Greens *." In Germany, "no politician, no politician, no party treats the climate crisis like an emergency".
For example, a coal phase-out in 2038 will come too late.
+
"Long live the climate" is written on the banner of a demonstrator who is crossing the Oberbaum Bridge with many other climate protectors.
© Annette Riedl / dpa
Climate strike shortly before the federal election: Greta Thunberg comes to Berlin
According to Fridays for Future, it is the eighth global climate strike.
Their central demand is a limitation of global warming to a maximum of one and a half degrees Celsius, which corresponds to the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.
For this purpose, the emission of greenhouse gases should be reduced as quickly as possible and in a "socially acceptable way".
The German climate activist Luisa Neubauer also complained in the
Tagesspiegel
that there was too little commitment to climate protection from all German parties.
However, the topic is playing a significantly larger role in the current election campaign than it was two years ago.
"So we can already see where we as the climate movement have brought the parties and what has changed," she told the newspaper.
The United Nations had only warned in a new report on Thursday that the 1.5 degree target could only be achieved with drastic measures.
This was published by UN organizations together with scientific partners and states that climate change and its effects are accelerating.
The short-term decrease in CO2 emissions due to the corona pandemic in the past year has not changed that.
List of rubric lists: © John MacDougall / AFP
