Fridays for Future plans protests in 210 German cities to highlight 1.5°C limit

Climate activists from the Fridays for Future movement across the world will take to the streets on Friday 19 March for their seventh Global Climate Strike. With the slogan ‘No more empty promises,’ the youth activists call upon world leaders to implement “immediate, concrete and ambitious action in response to the ongoing climate crisis,” the organisation writes in a press release. Fridays for Future has strikes planned in more than 50 countries. In Germany, activists in 210 cities will protest against the backdrop of the big election year, counting six state elections as well as the federal election and the selection of a new chancellor to succeed Angela Merkel. The activists will “fight for 1.5-degree coalition agreements,” the group writes, referring to the 1.5°C global warming limit outlined in the Paris climate agreement of 2015. "After many empty words and over two years of climate strikes, it is clear: Especially in the super election year 2021, we will only achieve the change necessary to comply with the 1.5-degree limit through great social pressure", said Pauline Brünger, Fridays for Future spokesperson. In light of the pandemic, there will be many small-scale protests, such as bicycle demos, sit-ins, chalk or art events, as well as online events. “It will be one of the most creative and varied action years that we have had,” Line Niedeggen, a spokesperson of Fridays for Future Germany, told Clean Energy Wire.

Some climate activists are hoping to extend their influence from street protests to inside parliament this year as they run for political office. However, in the state election in Baden-Württemberg in the beginning of March, the "Climate List", a new party formed by supporters of more radical climate action and close to the Fridays for Future movement, failed to lure away many voters from the Green Party. Fridays for Future, meanwhile, stays adamant about continuing to put pressure in non-partisan ways. “The climate issue shouldn’t be made electable,” Niedeggen said. “It does not work if one party has a plan for 1.5 degrees, but we don’t have a strong coalition to make it happen. That is why we have to make sure all parties are in line with the Paris agreement,” the 24-year-old student said.

In September 2019, the youth climate movement got 1.4 million people in Germany to the streets for a climate strike, inspired by Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. Chancellor Merkel credited the movement for pushing the government to act more quickly and resolutely on its 2030 climate package. Despite the ongoing pandemic, German voters have identified climate as a key concern and parties across the political spectrum have put sustainability at the heart of their programmes.