German climate activists have glued themselves to streets all over Berlin this morning in a bid to bring traffic to a standstill.
Members of the group Last Generation have repeatedly blocked roads across Germany over the past year to pressure the government into taking further action against climate change.
Activists have glued themselves to the roads on several occasions, enraging some motorists and prompting accusations of extremism from conservative politicians.
They warned they would also block traffic by marching very slowly through the city later in the day in addition to the roadblocks.
The climate activist glued his hand to the road during the demonstration
German news agency dpa reported there were around 30 roadblocks across the city in the morning.
“We will no longer accept that the government has no plan to stop the destruction of our livelihoods,” Last Generation said in a statement.
“We are resisting now.”
Up to 500 police officers will be on the streets in the capital all day to prevent the blockades or end them quickly, according to Berlin police.
Last week, the group said its members would step up their actions in the coming days and try to “peacefully bring the city to a standstill”.
Last Generation wants Germany to stop using all fossil fuels by 2030 and take short-term measures including the imposition of a general speed limit of 62mph on highways in an effort to cut transport emissions.
‘Handful of naughty people’ wanted to disrupt London Marathon
It comes as Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists stopped traffic in parts of central London this morning after holding a demonstration for the fourth day of a protest dubbed “The Big One”.
More than 160 activists blocked roads in the Haymarket area and around Waterloo – sparking chaos during rush hour.
On Sunday, up to 50,000 Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists stormed central London as the London Marathon was under way, with the proximity of the two events sparking fears climate protesters could try to disrupt the annual race.
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XR activists ditch disruption
XR said they would not intentionally do so but direct action protest group JSO refused to say whether its activists would deliberately disrupt it.
One Extinction Rebellion (XR) activist, Michel, 63, said there were “a handful of naughty people” who would have liked to block the race to protest about the climate situation”.
He added: “We believe a handful of people might want to do an action to block the race to protest that we are not doing anything for the climate and we would like to stop that because we don’t believe it’s necessary.”
XR demonstrators from the Green Brigade marching in Westminster on Friday
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators taking part in a protest outside the Home Office in London on Friday
But no one appeared to have attempted to disrupt the race along the famous section of the marathon route.
XR activist Tom Crowther, 22, who cycled from Kent to attend the four-day protests, said: “I think a lot of the people who are supporting the marathon probably also support a lot of the values of Extinction Rebellion.”
