Fridays for Future protesters block party headquarters in Berlin

Thousands of Fridays for Future activists have marched through central Berlin, including targeting political party headquarters, to press the case for measures to halt global warming.

Berlin (dpa) – Thousands of Fridays for Future activists have marched through central Berlin, including targeting political party headquarters, to press the case for measures to halt global warming as talks proceeded to form Germany’s next government.

Fridays for Future said that around 20,000 people marched from the Brandenburg Gate through the government quarter. A police spokesman spoke of “a high four-figure number,” saying the youth movement came close to hitting its target of 10,000, despite rainy and windy conditions.

The rally held under the slogan “You leave us no choice” took the march to the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) before returning to its starting point at the Brandenburg Gate.

The police said the demonstration was “predominantly trouble-free.” Afterwards, however, there were blockades at the headquarters of the three parties conducting coalition talks.

The biggest of these was in front of the SPD headquarters, where around 200 people blocked access to a junction that a tractor was also parked on.

The SPD narrowly won September’s elections and SPD member Olaf Scholz is likely to be the next chancellor.

At the junction, three men climbed up traffic lights and lamp posts. A Fridays for Future spokeswoman said they had organized the action.

Luisa Neubauer, a leader of the movement in Germany, said outside the SPD building: “And as we stand here to say: ‘Dear Government, Dear Coalition Partners, 1.5 degrees,’ then we mean it. That’s not up for negotiation. We’re not interested in half measures.”

Around 35 to 40 climate activists gathered in front of the Greens’ headquarters, according to the police. Other actions took place in front of the Free Democrats’ (FDP) offices.

Demonstrators chanted “Our future is not negotiable,” and “Up with climate protection, down with coal.” Placards read “Power to the People,” or “We need action.”

Around 400 police officers accompanied the protests, according to a spokesman. In one incident at the end of the march, a participant attacked an officer. Police officers were harassed when they tried to arrest the woman.

Further rallies were held in the states of Thuringia and Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The SPD, the Greens and the FDP continued their talks on Friday after last month’s election led to no party getting an absolute majority in the Bundestag.

During exploratory talks, the parties agreed to proceed to a formal coalition-building format. One of the measures they were in agreement on was to lower the voting age to 16 from the current 18 in what has been seen as a response in part to the strength of the Fridays for Future movement.

Ahead of the beginning of the talks, Fridays for Future’s German branch had called for radical action on climate change.

“We are not talking about greening the government’s work, we are talking about comprehensive changes to the system that are pending,” Neubauer said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The movement is calling for a budget that commits to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and for Germany to commit at least 14 billion euros (16.3 billion dollars) a year to international efforts in this regard.

Fridays for Future is calling for a commitment to stop using natural gas by 2035. It also demands an end to the use of coal by 2030 and of internal combustion engines by 2025.

The construction of new motorways and other main roads should also be halted, they say.