“I heard about Last Renovation, but what do they want to do at the Louvre? “. The tension was palpable within the police and security services on Friday morning shortly before 10 a.m. on the Louvre esplanade. And for good reason, a civil disobedience action by the Dernier Rénovation collective was being prepared as discreetly as possible.
Among the tourists, some of whom were already posing in evening dresses despite the cool morning air, a small group of journalists, including 20 minutes, was held in a corner of the square and checked twice in less than ten minutes. A priori carrying a camera on the Place du Louvre is sufficient reason for an identity check during the Vigipirate “emergency attack” period! Well, not for tourists and their selfie sticks.
“Make our claim visible”
Meanwhile, the Première Rénovation collective organized itself among the onlookers to carry out its action of the day, namely spraying the facade of the building with orange-colored water, to request a major thermal renovation plan. in government. A climber on one of the facades, and several activists equipped with colored balloons then triggered the operation. Panic among the police, who were unable to intervene in time to prevent them from acting.
“The objective was to make visible our demand, which is the thermal renovation of buildings. And to be visible, we have to tackle monuments that are also visible,” explained Simon, one of the spokespersons for Dernier Rénovation. His fellow activists, throwing colored water bombs, were immediately stopped by the authorities and took a pacifist position, to assert their desire for civil disobedience.
An annual plan of 12 billion euros for the thermal renovation of buildings
In a few minutes, in front of astounded visitors and tourists clinging to their smartphones, the collective’s coordinated operation took place without a hitch. Only a banner which was to be displayed on the pyramid could not be hung on the monument. “Today’s action is a success since we have succeeded in making our campaign and our demand visible, which is, it must be remembered, an annual budget of 12 billion euros for the thermal renovation of buildings and a plan on several years to structure this renovation sector.
“They’re actually throwing paint that’s coming off because they’re angry about global warming, because people aren’t doing anything to improve the climate fight. You can see that in summer, we are too hot,” explained a mother to her 5-year-old son, amazed at “all these police officers keeping people on the ground.”
The activists seated on the ground in the middle of the remains of paint, right arms raised in a sign of peace, quietly waited for the continuation of the operation, while another part of the collective sang and applauded widely. “And one, and two, and three degrees, that’s a crime against humanity!” » “Thank you, thank you for our children. You are courageous,” we heard among the tourists. And for good reason, they risk being questioned and placed in police custody, or even appearing in immediate court like several other activists from Latter Renovation, since the creation of the collective in 2022.
The collective also recalled in its press release that its request “aims only to enforce the law. On the one hand, the French state has been condemned twice for climate inaction. On the other hand, the national low carbon strategy aims for a target of 370,000 efficient renovations per year until 2030. The reality is that in 2022, only 13,000 of them were financed by the MaPrimeRénov system. At this rate, it will take 2,600 years to renovate the 35 million French homes.” But only a few minutes for the authorities to intervene. “It’s not a public place. You can’t film. Back off, that’s enough.” Ah, the Place du Louvre would have become something other than a popular Monopoly square.