They attracted attention by going on hunger strike.
Now they met the presumably future Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
But the conversation ended in an argument.
Berlin - As climate chancellor, Olaf Scholz campaigned for votes before the federal election.
On his election posters, the SPD politician presented himself as a doer - tackling posture, apparently at eye level with the viewer, motivating.
Like a coach who speaks well to his team before the start of the game.
“Scholz tackles it”, so the slogan.
The fact that Scholz is actually tackling the climate crisis was publicly doubted on Friday, November 12th, by climate protection activists.
The almost one-hour exchange in the premises of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Berlin culminated in a dispute.
“They are leading us into a climate hell!” Is the allegation.
The activists Henning Jeschke and Lea Bonasera, known for their week-long hunger strike before the federal election, announced actions of civil disobedience for January 2022.
They belong to the group "uprising of the last generation".
Olaf Scholz meets hunger strikers - discussion leads to an exchange of blows over the climate crisis
In the course of the federal election they caused a stir: a group of originally six young climate activists who went on hunger strike in Berlin's government district.
They wanted to force a public exchange with the three candidates for Chancellor Annalena Baerbock (Greens), Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Armin Laschet (CDU).
The politicians agreed not to allow themselves to be blackmailed.
In the end, Jeschke and Bonasera went on a “dry” hunger strike and also refused to drink any fluids.
Olaf Scholz then promised them a phone call in the coming weeks.
That was now taking place.
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Lea Bonasera and Henning Jeschke, participants in the “last generation hunger strike”.
© Jörg Carstensen / dpa
"I am desperate, we are in a deadly climate crisis," Lea Bonasera began the round.
“We have a policy that has the possibility of turning things around, but again and again, knowingly and willingly, takes measures that lead us further into this climate crisis.” The voice of the 24-year-old was sometimes shaky and, as she said herself, desperate .
"We are talking about a matter of life and death today."
(The Middle East is one of the hardest hit by climate change - temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius are already a reality. The region is barely equipped to deal with the problem.)
Olaf Scholz admitted the "very serious situation", but wanted above all to appease and talk about possible solutions in politics.
Again and again he was interrupted, however, and reacted increasingly annoyed.
Climate activists accuse sharply - and want to tease out a reaction: "Mr. Scholz, is there no emotion?"
The activists tried to corner the SPD man.
They doubted whether he, as a likely future Federal Chancellor, would even be able to lead the country out of this climate crisis.
And drew the now well-known scenarios of the consequences of global warming: drought, floods, famine.
When Henning Jeschke increasingly took over the helm, the mood heated up.
He spoke pictorially of a “climate hell”, created dystopian scenarios of a future in which the 1.5 degree target would be exceeded.
“It's about billions of people who are dying, doesn't that leave you indifferent, Mr. Scholz, is there no emotion?”, Jeschke finally wanted to know.
The SPD politician accused the activists of not making any concrete proposals against the climate crisis, but only of describing the dangers.
"You make yourself far too comfortable," said Scholz.
He rejected the accusation that politicians did not see the seriousness of the situation.
"How did you come up with this megalomaniac self-assessment?" Asked Scholz.
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The climate activists Lea Bonasera (M) and Henning Jeschke (l) meet Olaf Scholz, SPD candidate for Chancellor and Executive Minister of Finance, in the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
And so you talked to each other that day - but you still didn't get together.
Because the common language was missing.
And so the meeting was more like a tribunal than a constructive exchange.
“Nobody has a plan to get us out of this disaster.
And the young people who understand this, they see it and half of them have daily fear of the future in the climate catastrophe, ”Jeschke finally shouted at Scholz, emotionally agitated.
"How do you intend to demonstrate leadership style and show the German Federal Republic that I can lead it forward if you intend to end our history as we know it," accused the climate activist.
Climate activists threaten civil disobedience: "We will bring the republic to a standstill"
Jeschke and Bonasera finally formulated their ultimatum: Scholz had "until the end of the year".
Otherwise one will disturb non-violently.
"We will bring the republic to a standstill," said Jeschke.
The climate activists are threatening disruptive actions on motorways from January if the new federal government does not take immediate action against food waste and climate-damaging agriculture.
With @OlafScholz it became clear: no end of the climate injustice in sight!
We are issuing an ultimatum: save our food!
Save our lives!
If the government refuses, we will paralyze the republic with motorway blockades next year. # EssenRettenLebenRetten,
more precisely:
- Last generation uprising (@AufstandLastGen) November 12, 2021
The climate activists see themselves as an "uprising of the last generation".
They emphasize that, from the point of view of scientists, there are only three to four years left to turn things around in the fight against climate change.
(aka with material from dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Kay Nietfeld