climate protests
Neubauer: “Not always more effective if you hit it harder”
Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer on climate protests: “It’s not always more effective if you hit it harder.” photo
© Matic Hrabar/STA/dpa
Which protest best accelerates a rethinking in the climate crisis? The blockades of the last generation often only result in frustration. Climate activist Neubauer pleads for more persuasion.
Environmentalist Luisa Neubauer has criticized the form of the protests by the Last Generation group. “Political change does not come categorically faster by taking more radical measures,” the Fridays for Future activist told the Watson news portal on Saturday. Rather, it is important to act strategically. “It’s not always more effective if you hit it harder.” In the example of the speed limit, for example, it could be more effective to convince a round of FDP voters “than to block the road again”.
Since 2022, the last generation has regularly drawn attention to the consequences of climate change with sit-ins on streets and other controversial actions.
Neubauer continued: “There are moments when disruptive disobedience can be totally effective.” So far, however, there has been no reason to assume that when it comes to climate protection. “And we have to keep in mind that certain actions can, in the worst case, also deter people and political decision-makers.”