Fridays for Bundestag: Activist today, MP tomorrow?


Status: 23.07.2021 4:10 p.m.

Some activists of the climate movement “Fridays for Future” are pushing from the street into parliament. You want to go to the Bundestag for the Greens. But how big are your chances?

By Björn Dake, ARD capital studio

Jakob Blasel sits by the Spree and looks at the Bundestag. He wants to go in there. “If that works, that would be awesome,” says Blasel. But first he has to be elected.

Blasel helped organize the major climate strikes in Germany. He marched alongside Greta Thunberg. Now the 20-year-old is eighth on the Schleswig-Holstein state list of Greens. Moving into the Bundestag: Not sure, but possible.

Activists, climate policy is not radical enough

Blasel hopes to be able to make politics from the perspective of young people. They would be neglected in the whole climate discussion.

Blasel is studying law. He describes himself as a “1.5 degree ultra”. 1.5 degrees – that is the Paris climate target. The current climate policy is not radical enough for him. Not even that of the Greens. At the party congress in early June, he failed to demand a higher CO2 price. That disappointed many with “Fridays for Future”. There was talk of a devastating signal.

Jakob Blasel is eighth on the Schleswig-Holstein state list of Greens.

Image: picture alliance / dpa

Green MPs reject criticism

Lisa Badum is where Jakob Blasel wants to go – in the Bundestag. She is climate policy spokeswoman for the Green Group. The Upper Franconian Badum rejects the criticism of “Fridays for Future”. In their opinion, the Greens have already adopted many of the movement’s demands: “We have included and translated four years of the climate movement on the street and in society into the program.”

It’s a balancing act for the Greens: On the one hand, they want to approach the activists and make an ambitious climate policy. On the other hand, potential voters from the political center should not be frightened off during the election campaign. A higher CO2 price would make driving and heating, for example, significantly more expensive.

Greens see high expectations of their party

Oliver Krischer was also responsible for this balancing act. Before the party congress he sorted motions and looked for compromises. The parliamentary deputy of the Greens in the Bundestag says expectations of his party are high. Too high? “Of course, when there are Greens in government, paradise will not break out. It will be a long, difficult job.”

Krischer coordinates various working groups of the Greens, sits as a deputy member in two parliamentary committees and also takes care of the small and small of parliamentary work. And that often has little to do with big, bold demands at climate academies.

Parts of the movement reject Bundestag candidacies

Jakob Blasel also sees the risk of not being able to meet all the demands of the “Fridays for Future” movement. He tries not to disappoint. “But of course I cannot vouch for the way the Bundestag or my parliamentary group will decide later.” After all, he is only a single MP. However, there are other climate activists with promising places on the list.

Such candidatures for the Bundestag are received differently on “Fridays for Future”. Not everyone there believes that they can make a difference in parliament. Some of the climate activists consider the protest on the street to be more effective.

Fridays for Bundestag: from the street to parliament?

Björn Dake, ARD Berlin, July 23, 2021 2:42 p.m.





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