“We were looking for something that couldn’t be ignored”: A meeting with Lea Bonasera, climate activist and co-founder of “Last Generation”. After her second conviction.
Sit straight. Do not curse. Stay friendly. Don’t laugh out loud. Don’t have conversations. That’s exactly what it said on notices from the civil rights movement against racial segregation in the 1960s. This was what was said in appeals at the demonstrations at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. And that’s exactly how Lea Bonasera behaves on this summer day at the Frankfurt court. She sits with her back straight next to the young defender in a blue, loose jumpsuit. It’s a hot July day, outside the midday sun is paralyzing the city. The defense attorney noisily pushes back his chair, stands up and, with deep cynicism in his voice, announces the latest “climate catastrophe news.” He angrily talks about floods in Zaragoza, about the hottest average temperatures ever recorded in the world, and argues against paragraph 240 of the Criminal Code with the “climatic collapse”. The judge bends over his documents. Lea Bonasera listens, she doesn’t nod, shows no trace of self-righteousness or anger. Her gaze follows everything openly, as if she is curious to see how her plan develops.