Germany: Climate activists block streets in Berlin

What happened in the Berlin protest?

Members of the Last Generation environmentalist group set up barriers on Invalidenstrasse near the Museum of Natural History, restricting access to one of the lanes. The protest occurred around 8 am local time CET (7 am UTC i.e. 12.30 pm IST).

In response, the German authorities say they took action to prevent the activists from vandalising the street in front of the Transport Ministry. A police spokesperson said they stopped the protesters from using jackhammers on the road surface.

“The daily grind is taking us straight to climate hell over freshly tarred and paved roads. We can’t let that happen,” Last Generation said on Twitter, referring to the jackhammer activities.

Nine people also blocked a ramp onto the Sachsendamm highway in Berlin, near the Friedrich-Gerlach bridge. That action was contained by authorities in about 45 minutes.

The Fridays for the Future group, associated with activist Greta Thunberg, has also announced a protest in Berlin later on Wednesday that is expected take place in front of the Economic Affairs and Climate Action Ministry. The demonstration will raise awareness towards energy company RWE’s plans to demolish the village of Lützerath for lignite mining purposes.

The different approaches of Last Generation and Extinction Rebellion

Last Generation has previously staged protests at venues such as museums, stadiums and airports. Last Generation members have also caused mayhem by throwing food at treasured paintings both in Germany and other European countries.

The UK-based Extinction Rebellion group has said it would cease disruptive demos for now in order to gain support among the British public.

“As we ring in the new year, we make a controversial resolution to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic,” Extinction Rebellion UK said Monday, on the first day of 2023. The group said its current methods were failing to achieve results, as CO2 emissions increase.

The UK government is also weighing more severe punishments for climate activists, putting pressure on groups such as Extinction Rebellion.