The climate activists in Berlin’s Invalidenpark are withdrawing their absolute hunger strike for the time being. They announced this in a press conference on Thursday morning. The absolute hunger strike will therefore be interrupted for a week. The activists say that this is to give Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) more time to respond to their demands. “We want to show that we are flexible and not crazy,” said climate activist Richard Kluse.
Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick, who has been on hunger strike since March 7th and suffered a circulatory collapse at the beginning of the week, will start a so-called refeeding, i.e. he will start drinking juices and thus nutrients again, it was said. A second activist, Adrian Lack, will also interrupt his absolute hunger strike and start drinking juices again. In total, four people are on hunger strike in the camp, but two of them are not on an absolute hunger strike yet.
The activists had originally called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to draw attention to the dangers of climate change in a government statement and to bring about a radical reduction in greenhouse gases. They later simplified the demand: the Chancellor should “only publicly state three scientific facts in a government statement”.
Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick drank several liters of juice every day during the first 78 days of his hunger strike. Since then, according to the campaign, he has been on an “absolute hunger strike” during which he only consumed water. Most recently, he announced that he would soon begin a dry hunger strike without water.
On the X platform, the campaign “Starve until you are honest” announced that Metzeler-Kick and Lack reserved the right to “escalate into a total or even dry hunger strike after the week is over. Then other people will also go on hunger strike.”
Scholz statement not enough for activists
In a government statement also made on Thursday, Chancellor Scholz addressed climate change against the backdrop of the floods in southern Germany. If such extreme weather events occur more frequently, it is “no longer just a misfortune. It is then a result of climate change,” said Scholz. And: “Man-made climate change is the greatest global challenge we face.”
This was not enough for the hunger strikers, it was said at the press conference in Invalidenpark. Because this only fulfilled one of a total of three demands, said the activists. They offered to talk to the Chancellor. The interruption of the absolute hunger strike was also intended to avert the impression of “blackmail”, explained the activists at X.