Extinction Rebellion: the collective wants to block Paris for “several days” for the climate


Nearly a week before the second round, the programs of the two finalists in the presidential election have been reviewed by the main environmental organizations, and their conclusions are clear: the measures announced are considered to be very largely insufficient.

To put environmental issues back “at the center of concerns”, the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion is planning an action this Saturday, April 16 in Paris. The objective: blockade the capital.

Nearly a thousand activists from the environmental group Extinction Rebellion have already taken over part of the Grands Boulevards, in the center of Paris, this Saturday morning, in order to make it “a large agorra” during the Easter weekend to discuss of the climate emergency. For about 300 meters, activists blocked traffic by setting up barricades and staging a giant sit-in on the boulevard.

“We planned to stay three days” until Monday evening, a spokesperson told AFP. “We call on citizens to join us, the blocking and occupation of public space will intensify,” she warned, insisting on the non-violent nature of the movement.

The date of this action was not chosen at random. The French branch of the movement has indeed planned to mobilize one week before the second round of the presidential elections to “disrupt the French electoral cycle and its business as usual”, explains the spokesperson.

ecology absent from the programs

The environmental movement intends to make an undeniable observation: the two finalist candidates will not put ecological issues at the heart of their programs either. An opinion shared by all the main environmental organizations.

“Neither the program of Emmanuel Macron, nor that of Marine Le Pen shine by their measures in favor of the environment”, judge Jean-François Julliard, the director general of Greenpeace France.

Twice condemned by French justice for “climate inaction”, then given formal notice by the Council of State for his non-compliance with commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Emmanuel Macron nevertheless promised to enrich its program on this subject.

“Difficult to believe in new promises after a five-year period of renunciations”, comments the boss of the NGO, referring to the abortive exit of glyphosate, the reauthorization of neonicotinoids “bee killers” or even the abandonment of almost all proposals of the citizens’ convention on the climate.

Same observation on the side of Marine Le Pen, whose ecological commitment can be summed up in a few lines of her program which evoke “climate terrorism”, the exit from the “European Green Deal” as well as the request for a “moratorium on solar and wind power” all while extolling the merits of nuclear power and Russian gas.

Stop putting ecology under the rug

An alarming situation which makes the militants of Extinction Rebellion step up to the plate: “We want to attract attention, force the leaders, the two candidates to listen to us, to stop putting ecology under the carpet. Repeat to the people that we can’t wait 5 more years. The IPCC has existed for 34 years, scientists have published reports on an increasingly catastrophic situation, and none of the candidates takes the measure of the gravity of the situation. So we know very well that we are not going to change everything, but we act on the fact that we no longer trust politicians, ”explains an activist.

However, and despite their commitment, environmental activists do not wish to give voting instructions: “We do not give instructions, we are all in a delicate situation. We have been fighting the policy of Emmanuel Macron for 5 years, and that of his predecessors, or rather their inaction. But we are obviously also waging an unambiguous fight against the far right,” concludes the young woman.





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