DW/ Dimitra Kyranoudis

Greece, Libya, Bulgaria, Turkey, Hong Kong, Canada. The list of countries hit this summer by extreme weather events, such as wildfires and floods, with unprecedented intensity and victims, it is already long and constantly expanding. Experts argue that one of the main causes is man-made climate change.

With a request for a global climate march and slogan “Stop fossil fuels”, the activists of the world movement Fridays for Future, organize the noon and on Friday afternoon 240 marches across Germanyas a reminder of a bleak future that may lie ahead if substantial action is not taken to protect the climate.

A call for global mobilization

Berlin, Potsdam, Bremen, Hanover, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bonn, Aachen are just some of the German cities where demonstrations and actions for climate protection are taking place today.

“We are mobilizing against all those who have caused the climate crisis: the fossil fuel industry, the coal, oil and gas industries,” say the activists, calling for updated climate change legislation, more climate investment, and public means of transport.

According to the organizers of the climate action, the goal is a “historic global mobilization” with an eye on the UN summit in New York at the end of September.

“The influence of Fridays for Future is minimal”

Climate

At the same time, almost five years after the appearance of Fridays for Future, started by the young Swedish pioneer Greta Thunberg, today’s poll (Deutschlandtrend) for the public television ARD is of interest.

According to the poll, three out of four Germans, i.e. 75% of respondents, believe that Fridays for Future has had little or no influence on their personal attitude towards climate change and other environmental issues. Only one in 4 states that he has been influenced by the movement’s proposals and appeals.

It is even interesting that the supporters of the extreme right “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) are those who have hardly been affected by this, nine out of ten.

DW