As of: January 30, 2024, 2:10 p.m
By: Felicitas Breschendorf
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The climate protest group is planning “disobedient gatherings” in its new strategy.
What does she mean by that and what else sets it apart from Fridays For Future?
If there's one thing that most Germans probably know about the Last Generation, it's that it sticks.
She has drawn attention to herself over the past two years with her hands on the asphalt.
Now this “chapter of sticking” should come to an end, the Last Generation announced on Monday (January 30).
Removing the glue wasn't always easy for police officers.
(Here during a blockade in Oldenburg in June 2023) © Last Generation
Many people who feel like protesting don't want to be tied down
The group Extinction Rebellion, which campaigns for climate justice in Great Britain, has stopped sticking to the streets since the beginning of 2023.
Theodor Schnarr, activist and spokesman for the Last Generation, explains why the Last Generation is now also choosing to do this.
“The protest method served its purpose effectively.
“We have been able to make it clear over two years that the federal government is not interested in making humane policies, but rather criminalizes committed citizens,” he tells
BuzzFeed News Germany
, a portal owned by Ippen.Media.
When Schnarr isn't taking to the streets for the climate, he's doing a doctorate in biochemistry.
The 32-year-old gives another reason: “We have often received feedback that many people would like to take part but don't want to be tied down, which is why the protests are now accessible to everyone.” So the last generation wants to mobilize the broad masses .
You could say she's trying to be mainstream.
The last generation activist Theodor Schnarr.
© Nele Fischer
Last generation plans “mass protests”, but with a twist
Instead of sticking actions, the Last Generation is planning “disobedient gatherings” in the future, it says in its strategy for 2024, which can be read on its website.
But what exactly does that mean?
“There will be mass protests.
We will bring as many people as possible onto the streets in different places in Germany,” says Schnarr.
Fridays For Future has been organizing such mass protests for years.
The question therefore arises as to how the Last Generation would like to differentiate itself from the climate protection group in the future.
“The big difference is that we’re not going away.
“Not even if the police arrive or arrests are made.” Of course, not every protestor is forced to do this.
“Everyone has to decide for themselves.” Climate activists have also been arrested in the past (one of them told
BuzzFeed News Germany
about his time in prison).
Schnarr speaks of an “unignorable protest”, which should take place “peacefully”.
Protest march in Berlin in April 2023. © Frank Rabe/ Last Generation
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This is what other plans for the last generation look like
It is nothing new that the last generations are trying out peaceful forms of protest.
There were already protest marches in 2023. In its strategy, the climate protest group announces actions that would actually premiere in 2024.
For example, the climate activists want to speak to politicians and other decision-makers in front of the camera.
It sounds like their plan is to formally invite them to filmed interviews.
The activists are actually interested in interrupting public interviews or speeches by politicians.
“Politicians are usually in front of the camera themselves and we will go there,” says Schnarr.
“We will confront them with the fact that they are currently pursuing a policy that is leading us all to destruction.”
The model for this form of protest is the group “Climate Defiance,” which regularly targets climate opponents of the Biden administration.
Here, for example, to US Senator Joe Manchin in New Hampshire, who supports the coal industry in the state of West Virginia:
Last Generation Activist: “Injustices are more obvious than ever before”
Furthermore, the Last Generation would like to occupy “places of fossil destruction” over the course of 2024.
In the past, climate activists have done this, for example, in Lützerath, a village that the police cleared for coal mining.
Schnarr doesn't want to give us any information about where the protest will take place this year.
“It will be creative.”
He does not provide any precise information about the content of the appeal to Frank-Walter Steinmeier that the Last Generation would like to write according to their strategy.
However, Schnarr reveals that the climate activists will once again describe the situation we are currently in: the climate crisis.
“We hope that Frank-Walter Steinmeier will choose humanity and justice and support our demands.”
One thing is personally important to Schnarr, as he tells
BuzzFeed News Germany
.
It is aimed at anyone and everyone who is considering joining the Last Generation: “The injustices are more obvious than ever before.
Every person has to ask themselves: What do I want to tell my child in 20 years about what I did in the years in which the climate crisis escalated?
The time is now.”