Several hundred environmental activists blocked traffic on Boulevard Saint-Denis in the capital for three days. Their watchword: put ecology back at the heart of the political debate before a second round between two candidates whom they do not consider up to the climate emergency.
Since Saturday morning, April 14, passers-by emerging from the mouths of the Strasbourg-Saint-Denis metro in Paris have come across a setting that is unusual to say the least: the Porte Saint-Denis is quietly occupied by environmental activists at the call of the civil disobedience organization Extinction Rebellion. The countless cars that circulate as usual on the boulevard have given way to dozens of tents, on which children paint and in which the bravest have stayed to sleep, while others have simply spread straw on the ground. as a bed. From one end of the street to the other, a blood-red banner announces the color: “This world is dying, let’s build the next one.”
Nearly 1,500 people took part in the blocking movement, according to Extinction Rebellion, which had already distinguished itself in France in the fall of 2019 by settling for several days on the Place du Châtelet in Paris. “We want to occupy the public space to put ecology at the heart of the debate and demand that the people participate in the decisions that will be taken on the environment”, explains a 32-year-old activist, cap from the Vieilles Charrues festival screwed on her head.
Like many activists on the spot, she deplores the starving place reserved for ecology in the presidential campaign which ends on Sunday: according to the NGO the Affair of the Century, the climate has indeed occupied only 3.6 % of media time in the last two months. “It’s ridiculous compared to what is at stakelaments our interlocutor, who works in events. When we read what the scientists say, we say to ourselves that we should put in place a war strategy to act now…”
According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published on April 4, humanity has three years to reverse the curve of greenhouse gas emissions and hope to keep a planet “livable“. But on Boulevard Saint-Denis, activists are hardly optimistic in the light of the second round of the presidential election between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, two candidates whose weak ambitions in environmental matters they denounce. On April 10, most chose Jean-Luc Mélenchon – “because it had the best program on ecology”. Now they are distraught.
No one here has been convinced by the green offensive of Emmanuel Macron, who this weekend took up the leitmotif of the “ecological planning”, popularized by La France insoumise, announced the creation of a “nature party– it already exists – and presented Sunday’s ballot as “a referendum for or against ecology”. “As usual, Macron comes out with big sentences but he does not promise anything concrete. He has a populist speech, and I have no confidence in him,” asserts Victoire, 31, who is taking part in her first civil disobedience action. And who will nevertheless give his vote to the President of the Republic. “The far right is even more dangerous. For LGBT or racialized people, for example, it’s a real threat. she explains.
Around her, the activists are divided between Macron vote, white or abstention. “Whoever wins on Sunday, the next five years are wasted years. It is therefore up to us to continue to mobilize to weigh in the balance of power”, projects Marion, who represents the Alternatiba and Action nonviolent Cop 21 (ANV-Cop21) movements at a round table.
The occupants are considering other modes of mobilization, other ways of acting for the climate and biodiversity throughout the next five years. Activists distribute leaflets proposing the establishment of a transitional constitution based on the citizens’ initiative referendum (RIC). The creation of a citizens’ assembly responsible for implementing ecological transition measures is a long-standing demand of Extinction Rebellion. “We, civil society, must succeed in creating another imaginary, a real alternativedevelops Sébastien, in charge of press relations for the movement. We cannot wait five more years.»
After three days of a smooth occupation with the police – Extinction Rebellion advocates non-violence, most of the activists are preparing to pack up on Monday evening, the organizers believe that “objectives have been achieved”. Many are pleased to have been able to exchange with passing onlookers or motorists whose route has been diverted, and to make their struggle visible. But for “Youki”, this is not enough. “If we are not listened to, the radicalism will worsen. It’s about saving the world.” warns this official employed “in the field of ecology”. A few meters from his tent, someone has tagged on a dumpster with a furtive hand the following inscription: “Democracy is not the voting booth.”