Should 'radical' climate activism be penalized?

"Why didn't your mother abort you?" a passerby shouted angrily at environmental protection activists who were blocking Berlin's busy Frankfurter Allee during a recent protest.

This exchange illustrates the increasing divisions in Germany when it comes to the ever more conspicuous displays of civil disobedience employed by organizations such as Letzte Generation ("Last Generation"). A gap is growing between those who say they will fight for their future by any means within reason, and those who say that many such attention-grabbing tactics have crossed the line into criminality.

"When crimes are committed and other people are endangered, every limit of legitimate protest is crossed," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, of the Social Democrats (SPD), said on Monday. "All this has nothing whatsoever to do with democratic debate. The offenders must be prosecuted quickly and consistently."

Activists blamed for ambulance bungle

Faeser was referring to an incident last week in which Letzte Generation activists were blamed for blocking a street in the capital that first responders needed to use. The special operations vehicle took several minutes longer to get to an accident site. The bicyclist involved in the accident later died, with some suggesting the delay was responsible for the woman's death and others questioning whether it could be solely blamed on the activists' actions. This week, the Berlin emergency services released a statement in which it said that the traffic caused by the protest did cost the woman her life.

Some politicians have spoken of the tragedy as a reason why laws should be changed to more severely punish such acts of civil disobedience.

Dramatic times call for dramatic protests

In comparison with the organized Fridays for Future marches, Letzte Generation has opted for highly visible demonstrations more likely to garner headlines. In 2022 alone, members have blocked dozens of large highways and thoroughfares across Germany, as well as major airport runways, vandalized the Economics Ministry building in protest of an energy deal with Qatar, and glued themselves to oil pipelines. They have also thrown food at famous artworks in museums in Munich, Frankfurt, Potsdam, and Berlin.

Although the paintings were not damaged, as they were protected by thick glass and the activists were aware of that fact in advance, the latter actions in particular have stirred a heated debate in Germany about whether appearing to attack culture instead of polluters is a good way for activists to get their message across.

Lena Herbers, an expert in protest movements at the University of Freiburg, told DW that more radical acts were being favored by demonstrators instead of sanctioned protest because decades of the latter had not brought about enough change to avert climate catastrophe.

The changing nature of the protest movement highlights the urgency of their mission, Herbers said, adding that "activists are now trying to point out more forcefully the scientifically-recognized dramatic situation that requires rapid changes."

'Delegitimitization strategy'

The new forms of protest have been used for opposition politicians from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, as another reason why criminal penalties for civil disobedience should be increased.

Bavarian state premier and CSU member Markus Söder announced that 12 Letzte Generation members, at least one of whom is a high school student, would have to sit for 30 days of pre-trial detention for blocking a Munich street — a charge that would usually allow suspects to await trial at home.

But that is not enough, Söder said, adding that there must be punishment, "and punishment, that is, that must be, effective: No light monetary fines, but sometimes for example arrest and corresponding jail time."

Lena Herbers said that the calls from conservative lawmakers were part of a "delegitimization strategy."

"By not answering direct calls for a response from activists, and instead referring to 'criminal acts', politicians are making activists adjacent to criminals. In this way, their protest is no longer considered justified and lawmakers can avoid responding to the demands," said Herbers.

Ruling coalition eschews engaging with activists

The CDU/CSU in Berlin has echoed Söder's comments. Alexander Dobrindt, a CSU leader in the Bundestag, called Letzte Generation "climate anarchists" who deserve "significantly harsher penalties…to counter further radicalization."

According to Herbers, it's important to remember that whether a protest is seen as illegal or illegitimate can change over time, as it did for civil rights demonstrations around the world. 

"Nonviolent but illegal resistance can also bring about great changes. In Germany, civil disobedience has emerged as a practice of social movements since the 1970s," she said, and has been successful in, for example, blocking NATO stationing more nuclear weapons inside the country.

The ruling coalition of the SPD, Green Party and business-friendly FDP has tried to sidestep the debate, criticizing activists but refusing to consider increased criminal penalties. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai has said that the German justice system has "instruments enough" to deal with civil disobedience. And Sonja Eichwede, a SPD Bundestag spokesperson on legal policy matters, said that while she feared Letzte Generation would inspire copycats, she rejected the "populist call" for increased criminalization as unnecessary.

Aside from these comments, the ruling coalition has avoided engaging in high-level talks with climate activists despite scientific consensus that global leaders need to take much more decisive action to avoid millions dying from climate change-induced extreme weather conditions in the coming decades.

Letzte Generation criticizes lawmakers for 'lack of courage'

Mostly recently, Letzte Generation issued an ultimatum to the government: Engage in debate about more affordable public transport and introducing a speed limit on the autobahn — measures that researchers say are easy and common-sense ways to reduce emissions — or activists will rachet up their demonstrations.

As to threats from lawmakers that the justice system will come down heavy on protests that break laws, the young people asking them to protect their future by increasingly outlandish means appear unbothered. Just in Berlin, state prosecutors said at the end of October, some 730 members of Letzte Generation have faced criminal charges or fines so far this year.

"There is not a lack of information" available to policymakers, said Letzte Generation spokesperson Carla Hinrichs on Twitter, "but rather the courage to draw conclusions from it."

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