Young people shouldn’t “get stuck on airport runways,” says the chancellor. There are better ways to work for climate protection.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has again criticized the climate activists of the “last generation”. “Anyone who, as a young man or young woman, wants to work for climate protection and renewable energies today doesn’t have to be stuck on airport runways,” said Scholz on Tuesday at the trade union day of the German Civil Service Association in Berlin and received applause from the delegates.
Instead, Scholz recommended, a young person could pursue a career in public service. In other words, where the transformation towards climate neutrality is being implemented. “He or she, from the building or environmental departments of the municipalities to the federal ministries, can move things forward in this country in a very concrete way,” said the Chancellor.
Last week, Scholz called the activists’ protests “highly dangerous”.
It is not the first time that the chancellor has criticized the protest group. After some activists temporarily paralyzed air traffic at the capital’s BER airport last Thursday, Scholz said such actions were “not only incomprehensible, but also extremely dangerous”. He also “didn’t understand what good it does for the climate if you smear works of art. In this respect, those involved should consider other activities than those that are accepted by almost nobody in Germany.”
The group justifies its actions by wanting to draw attention to the fight against global warming. Do not allow this to be postponed. The re-elected chief of civil servants, Ulrich Silberbach, warned that there was a lack of staff in the offices and authorities, which would hinder the rapid implementation of climate change. There are already 360,000 vacancies, “fewer at the federal level, but more in the states and local authorities”. In addition, 1.3 million people will retire from public service over the next ten years.