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Climate activists block Mont Blanc Bridge

Climate activist glued to the road
Swiss police mark off the area where a climate activist from Renovate Switzerland has glued their hand to the ground © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Several climate activists from Renovate Switzerland temporarily blocked the Mont Blanc Bridge in Geneva on Saturday. They called on the government to speed up the thermal renovation of buildings.

The blockade of the road near the bridge at the railway station started at 2pm and ended at around 4pm, according to police. Four activists had glued their hands to the asphalt. Of those who took part in the action, the youngest was 20 and the oldest 77.

Six activists were arrested and taken to the police station. Traffic was disrupted for almost an hour-and-a-half.

Renovate SwitzerlandExternal link, which blocked the same stretch of road six months ago, is calling on the government to immediately allocate CHF4 billion ($4 billion) to retrain 100,000 people in thermal renovation jobs.

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Civil resistance

Renovate Switzerland is the Swiss branch of a civil resistance movement that exists in a dozen other countries. The group says it will continue its protests until the government hears its demands.

It wants a national plan to renovate the one million homes that need urgent insulation by 2040 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The campaigners are also calling for subsidies for energy-efficient building renovation to reach CHF1 billion a year from 2023, which they say is five times more than at present.

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