Anna Katarina-Topenot is one of the only ones to have really stood up to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), on March 18 at the Beaumont Palace, for an exchange with a dozen Palois selected by The Republic of the Pyrenees and South West Pau. She is 18 years old, a Terminale student, originally from Nay, and she is part of the “Youth for Climate” collective. Since she challenged the Head of State, Anna has been in great demand on social networks. This Friday she was present in the procession of about 300 demonstrators marching for the climate in Pau, two weeks before the presidential election. “Cécile Duflot replied to my tweets, some mayors and deputies followed me on Twitter, I was contacted by Médiapart… Frankly, I expected a wave of hatred but people are rather benevolent”she explains, a week after her meeting with the president-candidate.
Not convinced by Emmanuel Macron’s answer
The young woman did not appreciate the tone of the President of the Republic when she pointed out to him that “1% of the richest emit 110 tons of CO2 per year and per person against 2 tons of CO2 recommended by the Paris agreements, which clearly shows that this pollution does not come from ordinary citizens and that measures must be taken against large groups and against the richest”. “He was very paternalistic, very ‘young girl stay in your place, but I know better…'”, she felt. She didn’t not convinced by Emmanuel Macron’s answer either : “no action will be taken during his future five-year term if he is re-elected, as during his previous five-year term”.
This is why she was demonstrating this Friday, surrounded mostly by high school students but also by environmental activists and a few elected officials, like the mayor of Billère Jean-Yves Lalanne. “We really want action against large groups! Drastic measures against the richest, stop “greenwashing” that is to say that they are green when they are not, as, so as not to quote, Total!”.