Opinion: climate activism in Germany perhaps not so effective

“CLIMATE CHANGE COULD BE IRREVERSIBLE  BY 2030”!

This is a relevant headline, no doubt, but is climate activism effective and useful? I’m not convinced.

Climate change is noticeable and so are the actions and demonstrations all over the world, but street efforts seem more of a nuisance than good strategy for bringing about change.

On YouTube you can see street sit-ins, art gallery food attacks, graffiti on the Brandenburger Tor, large marches.

A better way to get attention would be through communication and content creation aimed at our generation. My peers and I often ignore news. It’s selfish and self-involved: we don’t want to look into a dark future. So, we’ve got to be addressed on our media in a way that reaches us.

There must be advantages for younger people, because without advantages, we’re not willing to put work in the work. The current doomsday messaging doesn’t reach a lot of us. Promoting a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is good, but first you need to make clear how important this topic is on our platforms, not on the streets.

Climate change is real, it’s scary. But activists need to reach young people in a way that gives us hope for our future, not just the feeling of destruction. 

Climate protesters sitting on Straße des 17. Juni, 10785 Berlin (Tiergarten), Germany on 28 October 2023 as part of the Letzte Generation Massenblockade. Several have their hands glued to the road surface. Copyright (c) 2023 Robbie Morrison