Climate protection demos What’s planned for the Fridays for Future campaign week in Bonn
Bonn · The Fridays for Future campaign week begins on Friday with two large demonstrations in Bonn. Many students, office workers and businesses will take part. Here is an overview of the planned demonstrations and activities which will continue for one week.
While politicians meet in Berlin on Friday to decide the future of climate protection policy in Germany, the auditorium of a secondary school in Pützchen will be filled shortly after 8am. Back in May when the first nationwide Fridays for Future demonstration took place, the students already decided to request an environmental action day so they could participate without having to incur unexcused absences. The school gave a green light to the students. Now Friday is also the start of a whole week of climate protection initiatives in the Hofgarten.
On Friday morning, 1,100 students, teachers and parents from the Bonn-Pützchen secondary school (IGS) will make their way to Bonn for the demonstration which leads through Bonn city center. It ends with a final rally at 4 pm in the Hofgarten. With around 450 nationwide demonstrations, this Friday will be the biggest global climate initiative to date. Whereas previously it was mainly students who took to the streets, now there is an entire alliance of environmental, welfare, cultural and development associations, churches, climate protection initiatives, associations and social movements calling for support of the FfF movement.
Many places of work and businesses in Bonn will be involved as will the Bonn city administration. Everyone who wants to participate is expected to coordinate with their place of employment and co-workers. Tim Höttges is also on board with the program: The head of more than 15,000 Telekom employees in Bonn sees in Fridays for Future the potential to reach people emotionally and remind them of their responsibility. "That's why I expressly support this campaign. As CEO of Deutsche Telekom. And as the father of two sons," said Höttges in the LinkedIn network.
"For us, climate protection is the most important issue that will occupy us in the coming years," says 17-year-old Levin Thüringer, who organized Environmental Day at her school together with Pauline Behr. They had organized the participation of many of their classmates in the recent major Fridays for Future demonstrations, even though this resulted in most of the participants having an unexcused absence on their record. The principal of IGS, Rainer Wienand said that unexcused absences must be recorded, but added that there is agreement among the teachers not to give any exams on Fridays. The situation is similar at other schools in Bonn.
According to Bonn police, the Fridays for Future movement has so far registered 10,000 participants for the Bonn demonstration this Friday. And students can take the bus and train free of charge. This special offer has nothing to do with the climate strike initiative, however, but instead marks World Children's Day.
(Original text: Stefan Hermes, Translation: Carol Kloeppel)
