“Friday for the Future”: Tens of thousands demonstrate for the climate

The Fridays for Future movement had called the global climate strike for the day – and many people in more than 250 cities followed suit. In Berlin alone, 30,000 have taken to the streets for climate justice.

In many German cities, several tens of thousands of people demonstrated for greater climate protection. The demonstrators, mostly young people, followed a call by the Fridays for Future movement for a global “climate strike”. A rally was held in Berlin, where police said more than 30,000 people had gathered near the government district.

The eleventh global protest call

Thousands also participated in rallies in Hamburg and other large cities. In other cities, officials did not want to provide any information on the number of participants.

People have also taken to the streets in many other countries – for example in New Zealand, Indonesia or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This was the organization’s 11th call for global protest since its inception in 2018. Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer called at the rally in Berlin: “Anyone who thinks there is no way out has only despair. If you know there is a way Else, you can start and act. We have the knowledge, so let’s get started.”

Supported by Art, Culture and the Church

Many members of the Evangelical Church also took part in devotions and prayers: “We want to work to ensure that as human beings we can live well on this planet, live sustainably, and not at the expense of future generations,” the head of the Evangelical Church in Rhineland, Thorsten Latzel, said in a video message. .

Latzel pointed to the already remarkable consequences of man-made climate change, citing the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate last year and drought in parts of Europe as examples. “But you feel especially in the Global South the effects of our way of life,” he said. One third of Pakistan is currently under water.

100 billion euros for climate protection

Climate stewards are calling for an exit from fossil fuels, the rapid expansion of renewable energies and a “continuous shift in traffic.” 100 billion euros are needed to “protect the social climate” and the nine-euro ticket “forever”.