Fridays for Future in Germany has a new strategy

The momentum seems to have been lost. At its peak a few years ago, Fridays for Future regularly brought tens of thousands of children and young people onto the streets in Germany every Friday.

Instead of going to school, they demonstrated for more action on climate change. Ever since 15-year-old Swedish student Greta Thunberg sat in front of her school in 2018 to strike for climate protection, they have formed part of a global movement.

Recently, however, FFF hasn't been very visible in Germany.

And yet Germany seems to offer particularly promising prospects for the movement and politicians have been mostly supportive. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a chat with Thunberg. Luisa Neubauer, the most prominent face of FFF in Germany, has been a regular on TV talk shows for years. And since the Greens joined the governing coalition in Berlin in December 2021, the movement has had a natural ally in the federal government.

Sociologist: 'The potential has been largely exhausted'

However, climate change is no longer the greatest concern for Germans today. In a survey by pollster Allensbach at the beginning of the year, the topic ranked far behind issues such as the threat of war, inflation, and uncontrolled immigration.

In addition, the more radical group, Last Generation (LG), managed to steal the show with roadblocks and paint and soup attacks on artworks and monuments. In January, however, the Last Generation announced that it was abandoning this form of protest.

"Our campaign objective is not maximum attention, but rather maximum effectiveness," said FFF spokeswoman Annika Rittmann when asked by DW whether her movement had lost influence compared to the LG.

Protest researcher Dieter Rucht of the Free University of Berlin believes that "compared to the Last Generation climate movement, Fridays for Future has definitely lost visibility in the media ... Although they took different approaches, the potential of both groups seems to have been largely exhausted," he wrote to DW.

Accusations of antisemitism against Thunberg

Perhaps the most serious blow to Fridays for Future, at least in Germany, was dealt to the movement by Greta Thunberg herself.

After Hamas, which is categorized as a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, along with other countries, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's counterattack in the Gaza Strip, antisemitic and anti-Israel posts appeared on the international FFF movement's Instagram account. For example, the posts referred to a "genocide" against Palestinians and Israel's "apartheid system". The posts ended with a call for the liberation of Palestine.

Thunberg, appeared at a climate demonstration in Amsterdam, in November 2023, wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh, and stressed that the climate movement must support the voices of those who are being oppressed. "There is no climate justice on occupied land," she chanted.

Luisa Neubauer quickly distanced herself from Thunberg. The Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, Felix Klein, spoke out against Greta Thunberg in an interview with Der Spiegel: "Her unilateral statements about the conflict in the Middle East are hostile to Israel and are also antisemitic through their implicit denial of Israel's right to exist," Klein said.

FFF: 'We have continued to adapt'

Some local FFF groups have dissolved. Like the one in Marburg, in the state of Hesse, which no longer saw "any more prospects" for the movement, or in Bremen, where a new group has since been formed.

According to a survey conducted in November for the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, Germans as a whole no longer have much faith in the future of Fridays for Future: almost two-thirds of respondents said it has failed. Less than a quarter believed it has a future.

Now, Fridays for Future has shifted its strategy: Instead of school strikes for more action on climate change, FFF is taking part in strikes organized by the ver.di public transport union. "We will no longer allow the governing coalition to derail public transport and climate policy," reads the call to action. "Now is the time for us to unite and fight collectively for the things we all need to live."

FFF has also been participating in the demonstrations against right-wing extremism that have been going on for weeks since reports were published on a clandestine meeting that included far-right politicians from the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) and some members of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). At the gathering plans for "remigrating" or deporting immigrants from Germany, including individuals with German passports.

 "The last few years have shown that climate-friendly policies can only be achieved with a vocal civil society and a strong democracy," spokeswoman Annika Rittmann explaining FFF's participation in the anti-extremist pro-democracy demonstrations. "We have continued to adapt over the past few years and have started to make concrete demands and reach out to people locally, in addition to large-scale protests."

Are FFF and ver.di a good match?

Frank Werneke, Chairman of the United Services Union ver.di, is delighted about FFF's support: "Achieving the climate targets is not possible without a real turnaround in transport and a sustainable and lasting improvement in public transport. That's why ver.di and Fridays for Future are fighting together."

But is there enough common ground? And are there potential conflicts of interest? Dieter Rucht believes: "Cooperation with the trade unions will be limited to a few areas, for example, the promotion of public transport. I don't see any conflicts of interest there. Apart from that, however, both organizations will act largely independently of one another."

In the wave of protests against right-wing extremism, FFF has "only played a marginal role. Occasionally, they show up among the initiating or supporting groups, but more on paper than in the actual protests," says Rucht.

Annika Rittmann believes in collaboration: "Especially now, when the political discourse is so polarized, forming alliances will play to our strategic strengths."

Sociologist Dieter Rucht, however, is skeptical about the prospects of Fridays for Future: "The power of FFF to mobilize has greatly diminished. The chances of success for a single group like FFF are very slim. If the climate movement can have any influence at all, it will only come through the combined efforts of its many different groups and through undesirable, negative effects that climate change will have on people's everyday lives."

This article was originally written in German.

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