Three years of Fridays for Future: “We are still ignoring the climate crisis”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg’s first school strike was exactly three years ago. Before the parliament in Stockholm she has now drawn a sobering balance sheet of the climate protection efforts.

Only a few activists came to the three-year anniversary – because of the corona pandemic. A small international group with Fridays for Future representatives from Germany, Italy, Austria and other European countries met in front of the parliament in Stockholm. Short clips are recorded for the social networks – the Fridays for Future movement has been protesting there since it was no longer able to take to the streets.

In the middle of it all, Greta Thunberg walks up and down, passers-by take pictures of her, call her name – she usually doesn’t react to it. She doesn’t like the hype around her person, we shouldn’t just film her with the camera, but everyone who is there, she says.

Sobering record

The Swede came here for the first time three years ago with her sign “skolstrejk för klimatet”. Now she draws a sobering balance sheet: “Not much has happened since then. We still have a climate crisis, emissions are rising. The crisis is not the focus. But on the other hand, awareness has increased and we are part of a global movement Millions of people around the world. A small step in the right direction. “

The pandemic has slowed down the movement. Now one is planning public actions on sight, so Thunberg. The fact that the world reacts quickly and decisively to a pandemic, but not to the threat of a climate crisis, also has something to do with reporting, said the 18-year-old: “The media made a decision on the corona pandemic on the first day to treat it like a crisis and therefore governments and rulers have decided to take drastic measures. That did not happen with the climate crisis. We humans are social animals: As long as no one around us treats a crisis like a crisis and changes their behavior, for so long we don’t understand that we are in a crisis. “

Neubauer goes tough with parties

Next to Thunberg is the German climate activist Luisa Neubauer: “I have daily contact with quite a few activists – for example with Luisa,” says Thunberg, before she says goodbye. Neubauer is a member of the Greens and the best-known representative of the German Fridays for Future movement. Her current topic: the federal election.

She feels that the election manifestos of all parties are still far from sufficient with regard to climate issues. Germany has a great responsibility, but one is not fulfilling it, said Neubauer: “Sometimes one thinks that politicians are in a parallel universe. They stand in the ruins of NRW after the flood disaster and declare that something must be done urgently exactly after that to return to business as usual. Coal power will continue to be defended, and so will the gas pipelines. This is not how it looks when people in positions of power take this crisis seriously.

Climate protest shortly before the election

The next worldwide climate protest by Fridays for Future is planned for September 24th – two days before the general election. Thunberg and Neubauer hope that despite the pandemic, many people will be able to take to the streets. Until then, they will continue to post their messages online: “We want justice.”