25 September 2020. No more than 1.5°C increase max! - in some 480 towns and cities in Germany alone Fridays for Future had called to strikes and demonstrations to ask for immediate climate protection measures keeping in mind the necessary distancing between protesters and mandatory face masks - corona obliging. Mundus maris was at the manifestation in Düsseldorf in front of the Parliament building to underscore that climate protection and ocean protection go hand in hand.
Despite the rainy weather in some parts, some 200,000 people of all ages took to the streets again - 21,000 in Berlin, 16,000 in Hamburg and 10,000 in Cologne. They followed the call of the dynamic young organisers of Fridays for Future to show that they are not willing to wait for 2038 as accepted by the government to get out of coal altogether and replace fossils with renewables. Indeed, a recent study shows that the energy supply could already be completely covered by renewables if the government, and particularly the economy ministry led by Christian Democrats would stop putting obstacles in the way of a faster transition.
The good news is that the relentless protests by citizens are starting to get heard and to force the government and companies to signal willingness to get moving.
Again the participants of the protests showed creativity in how they expressed their demands for faster action and showed the breadth and the width of the movement. The movement of Fridays for Future had again pulled off a remarkably efficient organisation in so many places and mix of responses from participants.
Workers in the health sector underscored that climate change is a threat to a functioning health system, grannies claimed rights for their children and grand children - Omas for Future. Middle-aged demonstrators appealed to reason by underlining that climate change affected everyone and was everybody's concern.
Many had come with their bicyles to claim priority for climate friendly mobility with more space for bykes and better public transport that reduces the need for individual car traffic, the biggest polluter and climate killer in town which is not showing any reduction in CO2 emissions given that more and more SUVs are still being pushed into the market.
The central demand to the government - a climate policy that deserves its name! NOW!
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
Protesters in front of the Parliament Building and on the streets in Düsseldorf on 25 September 2020 - a big Thank You to all those who made the manifestations a success!