Businesses all around the world in the mining, tourism, and agriculture sectors are directly impacted by climate change awareness and activism.

The coal mining industry runs the risk of suffering significant losses as governments increasingly tilt towards renewable energy sources and demand that companies have net-zero carbon emissions. 

Leisure businesses, such as ski resorts, face risk of melting snow owing to climate change. Droughts, wildfires, and flooding are red flags for the agricultural sector. 

In addition to all of this, businesses are spending money to implement government regulations regarding new climate-friendly policies. The same companies also run the danger of potential legal action, if they do not follow the law. 

Therefore, there is no question that climate change is actually impacting the business climate, a term that refers to the overall conditions that influence the success of businesses.

It is in this context of competing forces vying for attention and power that one has to examine the recent crackdown on environmental activists in Germany.

Climate Change and German economic damage forecasts

According to a study released in March 2023, Germany might wind up bearing huge economic damage of up to 900 billion euros by 2050 due to climate change. Climate activists, on the other hand,  are worried that if regulations are not changed, businesses may fail and this could disrupt people’s lives. 

Last Generation environmental group

WION spoke with the Last Generation climate group after Wednesday’s raids by German police on its supporters. The climate group is well-known for its distinctive style of protesting, which includes destroying artwork and blocking highways. 

They sometimes also glue themselves to roads, actions that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees as “completely crazy.”

Carla Hinrichs, a supporter of the student-led group had her front door broken into by over 25 police officers Wednesday. With their guns drawn, the officers stormed into Carla’s room where she was still in bed, the activist group told WION in an email response. 

Ahead the protests scheduled for 30 May, the group, in a show of defiance, said that even though the rampant raids frighten them, it will still “not stop us from working for the preservation of a livable planet and climate.”

Searches were carried out at the houses of about 15 climate change activists. Two of the group’s members allegedly intended to damage a crucial oil pipeline in Bavaria, according to the prosecutor’s office. 

However, the group refuted all such claims in a conversation with WION saying “everything we do, we do transparently. We show our names and faces during our protests. We announce what we intend to do. We talk to politicians, police, church leaders.” 

It further questioned, “What is criminal about that? We don’t get rich, on the contrary, we are constantly paying fines for what we do.” 

What is the group demanding?

The group has been calling out the German government to commit itself to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, something that all countries reaffirmed at the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 that took place in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh last November. 

Speaking of their demands from the German government, Last Generation said there is a need for a “social council that leads us out of the climate crisis in a socially just way.” 

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“Our demand is that we must now come together in a citizen council to give politics a helping hand and preserve what our democracy is all about. For this citizen council, people from society are randomly drawn together to form a truly representative assembly of society. With this political instrument, the necessary measures can be decided in a way that is compatible with society. The Citizen Council is to develop legislative proposals on how Germany can end the burning of fossil fuels in a socially just way by 2030.”

Earlier, the German authorities also took the website of the group offline but shortly after, Last Generation launched a new website. 

The group is accused of fundraising to finance criminal activities. Last Generation told WION that their donation accounts have also been confiscated by the authorities. 

“We are appalled and outraged that our donation accounts have been confiscated. What will happen to the people who have donated small amounts to us?  donated? What about the many people who donated 5, 10 or 50 euros? donated. Will they all soon have to face legal consequences because they support a ‘criminal organisation’?”

‘Not Afraid’

Last Generation said it respects the law and would consistently rely on it without fear of court trials. Instead, they are concerned about how the effects of the climate catastrophe may undermine Germany’s rule of law. 

“We can see it everywhere in the world, whether it is the floods in Pakistan, which have left 30 million people homeless, or the ongoing droughts in France and Spain, which have cut off the drinking water supply in hundreds of communities. Hence, our democracy, our fundamental rights, our future – everything is at stake,” the environmental group said.  

“The German government is far from presenting a socially just climate protection plan to comply with the 1.5 degree limit that is oriented towards physical realities – as the Federal Constitutional Court ruling from 2021 actually demands of it. For this, it regularly receives harsh criticism from all expert committee, which were specifically used to advise the federal governments. However, this is followed neither by legal consequences nor by any concession on the part of the government,” it added. 

While rubbishing all allegations against them, the group recalled the words of UN Chief António Guterres that “climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals but the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.”

As per the climate group, German government wants to sell to the public the idea that the country is on a good path to combat climate change. 

“The federal government is breaking its own laws. The federal government is breaking the constitution every day. And as long as this continues, as long as Chancellor Scholz and the entire government break their own climate protection laws. As long as they do not respect the German Basic Law, we will continue to exercise our right to protest peacefully.”

In the long term, it said, their goal is to drastically counteract the climate crisis and its drastic effects on people, so that the climatic tipping points are not exceeded and the death and displacement of millions of people can be prevented.

“We are all the last generation that can prevent the uncontrolled heating and destabilisation of the world’s climate and thus immense human suffering. But we are also the generation that still has a chance to get out of the destruction. Together, we have to put pressure on our governments so that they finally act and protect our livelihoods.”

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) will take place this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from November 30 to December 12, 2023. 

The nations uniting under one umbrella will establish new objectives, but the current climatic situation requires immediate response.