News
13 Sep 2022, 12:07
Julian Wettengel

Fridays for Future activists call for 100-billion-euro climate fund for Germany

Clean Energy Wire

Activists from the Fridays for Future student group have called on the German government to set up a special fund for “massive” investments in climate action. “We call for a special fund of 100 billion euros to fight the climate crisis, for social justice and thus for livelihood security,” activist Annika Rittmann said at a press conference in Berlin. “The U.S. has led the way with the largest climate package, and now the German government must act,” she said, referencing a landmark package the U.S. government decided on this summer. Activist Luisa Neubauer added that a “massive investment offensive” should target German independence of foreign fossil fuels, support those struggling with currently high prices, and go to countries already suffering most from the climate crisis in the form of climate finance. She added that the 100 billion euros should be just a “starting point” to help Germany “break out of a spiral of crises” it is currently facing.

The president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Marcel Fratzscher, joined the Fridays for Future activists in their demands, criticising the government’s energy crisis relief packages so far. “The blind spot of these relief packages is that they do not take into account the long-term perspective, the long-term transformation.”

Increasingly, the Fridays for Future school strikers are speaking up about social issues, including racism, feminism, LGBTQ rights and economic inequality. Above all, they call for a just transition. The group is organising a global climate strike on 23 September under the hashtag #PeopleNotProfit, criticising that “climate struggle is class struggle”.

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
« previous news next news »

Ask CLEW

Sven Egenter

Researching a story? Drop CLEW a line or give us a call for background material and contacts.

Get support

+49 30 62858 497

Journalism for the energy transition

Get our Newsletter
Join our Network
Find an interviewee