On the occasion of the G7 summit in Elmau, Bavaria, climate protection groups blocked the entrance to the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin. Around 40 activists have been occupying the front entrance of the building since around 7 a.m. on Monday morning. The back entrance was also blocked by around 30 to 40 people.
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They held up signs that read something like “Global Debt = Global Crime” and “G7 You Owe, You Pay: Cancel the Debt” and “G7 you owe, you pay : Forgive the debt”).
Some of the activists also stuck to the building. According to the police, the ministry was also daubed with paint. The police blocked off Niederkirchnerstrasse in front of the ministry in the morning.
“Like many other countries in the Global North, Germany has a historical responsibility for the climate crisis, in a way a climate debt to the rest of the world, and as one of the G7 countries it also has an enormous influence on general world politics. That’s why our protest here is exactly right,” said activist Kim Weier, according to a statement published on Monday.
The action is part of a series of demonstrations taking place under the title “Debt for Climate” on the occasion of the G7 summit.
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According to the announcement, the activists are calling for debt relief for countries in the Global South. The countries should be “freed from the debt trap” so that they do not have to mine fossil raw materials, it said.
Just last week there were daily protests from another climate protection initiative in Berlin. The group “uprising of the last generation” had repeatedly blocked exits from the A100 city motorway and once also the commuter route around the Frankfurter Tor.
