Youth activists stage ‘die-in’ in German parliament to protest govt climate policy ‘disaster’

A group of some 20 young climate activists have used a session in the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, to stage a so-called ‘die-in’ over what they labeled a ‘disaster’ in their government’s climate policies.

The incident happened as Bundestag President Wolfgang Schauble gave a speech to mark the end of a session titled “Youth and Parliament.” The latter was a four-day role-playing event, in which some 300 youngsters simulated the work of the parliament.
Photos of the stunt posted to social media shows a group of 20 students lying dead on the floor in front of Schauble’s podium. Others stood over them to unveil a banner with the inscription “Your Climate Policy = Disaster.” However, their protest was met with boos from some of the people attending and the banner was seized by an attendee.

Activist Maximilian Reimers said the die-in was performed to highlight the federal government’s failure to tackle climate breakdown effectively.“We do not see this coalition taking the gravest crisis of humanity seriously,” he explained, adding that Schauble himself was symbolic of the government’s failed policy.

The protest was supported by the youth environmentalist network Fridays for Future. Inspired by the actions of Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, the movement has seen students across the world skip school to pressure their governments into acknowledging a climate emergency and to support policies that will fight global warming.

However, the political establishment has regularly dismissed the students’ demands. In February, the state education minister for North Rhine-Westphalia sent letters to students demanding that they protest on their free time or face possible sanctions. In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was called “out of touch” when he suggested the matter of global warming could be settled “outside of school.”

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