Deprived of marches, school strikes or actions of civil disobedience with confinement, young activists and new climate activists do not give up and continue their actions online or locally.
Galvanized by the example of the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, the resignation of the Minister for Ecological Transition Nicolas Hulot in France or supporters of civil disobedience like Extinction Rebellion, hundreds of thousands of citizens have taken to the streets for more than a year and a half.
In mid-March, marches or strikes were still planned in Portugal, Brazil, Denmark, Nigeria and France. But the coronavirus epidemic stopped everything.
The school strike… but online
"We decided to cancel or postpone our long walks", "it was the right thing to do," commented Greta Thunberg on Wednesday during an online debate. "During a crisis, you have to put things aside and do what is best for society," said the 17-year-old, speaking of the confinement that has affected half of humanity.
However, "we have not stopped acting, even in this situation," said AFP Vanessa Nakate, a young Ugandan activist. The school strike continues online, with young people posting photos of them with signs and slogans every Friday on social media.
The “Fridays for Future” movement organizes debates on its Youtube channel with young activists and explanatory videos on climate issues.
Online campaign launched during containment
This Friday, activists, scientists, artists will intervene for 20 hours straight online on fridaysforfuture.org/fff24
Extinction Rebellion, which came to prominence by blocking the centers of London and Paris, has also temporarily renounced civil disobedience actions to demand stronger government action in the face of global warming.
The UK-born movement launched an online campaign, #LoveandRageinTimesOfCorona - "love and rage in the days of corona" - where activists from more than 65 countries share their experiences during confinement. Activists in The Hague left hundreds of pairs of shoes in a square with messages to demonstrate symbolically.
Online training, conferences and meetings
In France, the Alternatiba citizen movements and non-violent actions ANV-COP21, offer training, conferences on climate change and possible alternatives, or relay local solidarity actions.
In Switzerland, Fridays for Future has adapted, as elsewhere. At the beginning of March, even before the confinement, "the coordination, that is to say about fifty people, decided not to see each other anymore", tells AFP Layla Outemzabet, apprentice cabinetmaker. Online meetings are organized, but "it's clearly less effective," admits the 21-year-old activist. "It asked us to be more creative and creative."
Their work, with more time available, resulted in the petition "Care, not dividends", online training or the participation of a hundred activists in a day of aid to farmers in the fields.
"Maybe our demands will seem less utopian"
The activist hopes that trends that appeared during confinement, such as consuming more locally, having more time for yourself, will lead people to think “about working time” or the links between agriculture, climate and food sovereignty. "Perhaps our demands will seem less utopian," she hopes.
For Greta Thunberg, confinement is a good time to "get informed": "the more you know about the subject, the more you will be able to act the right way," she believes. Even from home, "you have to be heard, or someone else will," encourages the Swede. "People must not forget that before this crisis, there was another," says Vanessa Nakate.
When the confinement is lifted, "it will still be necessary for our children to take to the streets to teach us the obvious: that we have no future if we destroy the environment that supports us," encouraged them on Wednesday. Pope Francis on the occasion of the 50th World Earth Day.
- Coronavirus
- Containment
- Planet
- Weather
- Mobilization
- Greta Thunberg