Swiss climate activists plan to keep gluing themselves to roads

Renovate Switzerland says climate activists will continue to glue themselves to roads as a protest method due to "the inaction and slowness of political decisions" in Switzerland. © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Climate activists in Switzerland plan to continue to glue themselves to roads, unlike campaigners in neighbouring Germany who say they will give up this protest method.

The activist group Renovate Switzerland says it will continue to use this direct method due to “the inaction and slowness of political decisions” in Switzerland.

“We are aware of the new strategy adopted by the Letzte Generation movement [in Germany], but we will not be following it,” Renovate Switzerland told Keystone-ATS on Tuesday.

According to the German newspaper Bild, German climate activists intend to concentrate on street occupations, disruptions at political events and targeted attacks with a direct link to the climate crisis. Ordinary citizens, on the other hand, will be left in peace.

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Letzte Generation in Germany and Renovate Switzerland are part of the same A22 Network and pursue the same objective of saving the planet, Renovate Switzerland adds. But each is running an independent campaign. Renovate was launched in April 2022 and is now active in ten countries.

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The lack of public information about the climate crisis in Switzerland shows that actions such as gluing themselves to roads are still necessary, the group says. The movement believes Switzerland is threatened by a climate emergency.

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“We still need actions with a strong public impact to shake people up and make them aware of the urgency of the climate catastrophe,” declares Renovate Switzerland. “We will continue to demonstrate peacefully in the streets until the government assumes its responsibilities and protects our future.”

Last Easter, activists disrupted traffic for hours outside the Gotthard tunnel by gluing themselves to the road. Similar protests have taken place elsewhere, including in Geneva, Lausanne, Bern and Zurich.

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