Everywhere in France, demonstrations for the climate took place this afternoon. In Pau, Laval and Paris, the Youth for Climate movement has beaten the pavement to demand concrete changes in terms of climate policy.
>> March for the climate: dozens of demonstrations organized throughout France
If the US for Climate movement mainly concerns high school and university students, all generations are represented in the procession. Lucas, 12, came with his grandmother Christine, who is 68. “It was important, he said, because the government doesn’t do much and it’s more important to go to a demonstration than to college!” “It’s so important for young people, Complete Christine. We leave them a land well destroyed…”
“I feel guilty, partly because I did not believe early enough that it was serious. And so now we are trying to act. But indeed, it is difficult.”
Some propose concrete measures for everyday life, such as Elise: “Already, food, beyond having an ecological impact, has an impact on health, she explains. It would be necessary to kill two birds with one stone: revalorize the local in the canteens, make organic in the canteens, not to tax the organic. These are all very good ideas.”
Others take on larger projects, such as activist Stacy Agrain, who is against the Eacop project: “This is the sweet name of the heated pipeline that Total plans to build between Uganda and Tanzania, she indicates. This project is a climate and social bomb: approximately 38 million tonnes of CO2 will be emitted each year, six times more than Uganda’s emissions. And there are about 100,000 people who will be displaced as a result of this project.”
To be heard, some give voice. Others use art to get their message across, like Jeannette. “Here, I’m replacing the tickets in the bus shelters for ads that have been diverted into cut-outs and painting, she shows. Like this snail, where there is written descenders instead of a BMW, to make fun of these marketing jobs which, in fact, are really just brainwashing for nothing….” Other events are planned tomorrow, notably in Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux and Marseille.
March for the climate in Paris: report by Phéline Leloir-Duault
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