Qui sommes nous?
Nous sommes une communauté internationale qui attise les flammes de la désobéissance civile. Nous avons la recette d’une résistance efficace. Soutenez-nous. Rejoignez-nous. Nous avons besoin de vous.
Déclaration sur la Crise
Nous sommes la Dernière Génération de l’ancien monde. Nous sommes ici aujourd’hui pour dire que nous créerons un nouveau monde – où l’humanité décide enfin de s’accepter, de se pardonner, de s’aimer, et de s’engager à continuer notre grande aventure.
Nous sommes la Dernière Génération et nous ferons tout ce qui est nécessaire pour protéger notre génération et toutes celles à venir. Tel est notre droit inaliénable.
L’ancien monde se meurt. Nous vivons la dernière heure, l’heure la plus sombre. Ce monde est en train d’être décimé sous nos yeux. Nous sommes à la croisée des chemins. Ce que nous faisons maintenant déterminera à la fois le destin de ce monde et celui du prochain.
Donc nous nous levons. Nous ne cédons plus à nos peurs, à notre désespoir, à nos ressentiments. Nous nous élevons à la hauteur de qui nous sommes
Ensemble, en tant que communauté, nous nous relions à plus grand que nous. À cette source de ce qu’être humain signifie, qui nous appelle à travers les âges, et avec cette force nous mettrons à bas ceux qui tuent pour maintenir leurs régimes d’extraction. Ceci est l’ancien monde. Il ne peut plus durer.
Nous sommes ici pour affirmer que l’humanité vaut mieux que de s’abandonner à son extinction. Nous sommes ici pour dire que la société ne s’est pas détournée de l’amour et de la vérité ; qu’elle n’a pas renoncé pas face à la mort et au mal le plus absolu. Le monde que nous désirons, celui que nous pouvons avoir, est déjà à portée de main. Mais nous devons nous lever pour le saisir.
Nous ne sommes pas là pour sensibiliser, supplier ou divertir.
Nous sommes là pour forcer le changement requis pour que ce monde advienne. Nous sommes là pour forcer les gouvernements à réduire drastiquement leurs émissions de CO2, rien de moins. Nous sommes là pour des actions, pas des mots. Nous avons un plan.
Nous nous mobilisons à travers nos pays et nos cultures. Des groupes mèneront des campagnes. Ces campagnes feront des demandes aux gouvernements. Nous tendons la main à quiconque voudra bien la saisir pour créer ensemble ce nouveau monde. Si nous ne sommes pas entendus, nous perturberons, semaine après semaine, comme l’ont fait maintes fois celles et ceux qui nous ont précédés dans leur lutte pour les droits humains.
Nous parlons directement au public, et recrutons dans des centaines de réunions ouvertes à tous.
Nous nous engageons à désobéir.
Telle est notre responsabilité solennelle. Des droits sacrés requièrent des devoirs sacrés pour les défendre. Et tant que personne ne sera libre, aucun d’entre nous ne le sera. Seulement alors justice sera faite. Nulle arme à la main et le coeur ouvert, nous ne tomberons pas dans le piège de la haine de l’autre – l’autre fait partie de chacun de nous.
Nous sommes l’humanité croyant en l’humanité. Nous sommes la Démocratie.
Nous sommes ouverts et non-violents. Nous sommes le Soin et la Liberté. Nous accepterons les conséquences de nos actions et regarderons notre destinée droit dans les yeux.
Allez-y. Tant que nous respirons encore, nous ne nous arrêterons pas. Telle est notre vie désormais.
Nous sommes la Dernière Génération. Mais nous sommes aussi la Première. Nous sommes partout. Nous arrivons.
Tout va changer. L’ancien devient le nouveau. Et tout le monde peut changer.
OUR NETWORK, AT A GLANCE
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RESOURCES
Shared resources (Wikis) enable projects to build structure, share skills/experiences and cultivate alignment – making each project more efficient and effective! Here are some examples.
TAKE A TOUR OF THE NETWORK
Here’s a brief introduction to each of the projects
Ultima Generazione, Italy
Ultima Generazione, Italy
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Ultima Generazione has been active in Italy since December 2021. Our primary goal is to pressure the Italian government into taking decisive action to address the ongoing social and economic crisis driven by climate collapse. As part of our new campaign The Fair Price, we demand the protection of Italian agriculture, which is facing an unprecedented crisis. Droughts, heatwaves, hailstorms, and floods are devastating fields, compromising crops, and threatening food security. We must protect our harvests by promoting a transition to a new agricultural system that is both economically and ecologically sustainable.
In addition, we call for the urgent adjustment of food prices. The cost of food in supermarkets is becoming unsustainable, yet producers are receiving only a fraction of the final price. We demand that institutions intervene immediately to ensure a fair price for food—one that is equitable for both consumers and producers.
In the past six months, we have witnessed catastrophic climate events that have destroyed towns, crops, and farms. The economic and social damage is undeniable, yet the government continues to neglect its responsibility.
We are committed to using all nonviolent means possible to demand change. However, we are facing severe repression: the government is pushing through bills designed to silence our voices, and the media continues to dismiss our demands. But we know that the only way forward is to keep raising our voices, mobilizing people, and gathering in the streets to withdraw our consent from an irresponsible government and ruling elite.
Finally, we insist that those responsible for this crisis—the finance sector, large retailers, top managers of food multinationals, and the fossil fuel industry—should foot the bill for the transition to a more sustainable agricultural system, not the taxpayers. The Fair Price is a call for accountability, and we will not stop until our demands are met.
Neue Generation, Germany
Neue Generation, Germany
The New Generation is a follow-up project to the Last Generation in Germany and, in addition to the escalating climate catastrophe, fights against the alliance of the right and the rich, who currently have a lot of power in our politics.
We are a peaceful civil resistance movement that, in addition to protests, wants to build an alternative to complement the current democracy. The New Generation wants to build something new; we want a peaceful democratic revolution. We are creating a ‘Parliament of the people’, which will discuss the question of how to get the influence of money and lobbyism out of politics.
This parliament will be drawn by lottery and should become more and more representative. After such a parliament has taken place, we join peaceful resistance that expresses the demands and decisions of the parliament.
Last Generation, Canada
Last Generation, Canada
Last Generation Canada is demanding through civil resistance that the Canadian government implement a National Firefighting Agency that trains and employs 50,000 professional full-time wildland firefighters by summer 2024.
Canada made international headlines last summer when wildfires across the country engulfed an area larger than the size of Greece, forcing more than 200,000 people to flee their homes, releasing 2 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, and causing millions of dollars’ worth in damage. What was once unprecedented is becoming more common as climate change causes summers to become hotter, drier, and last for longer which, when combined with irresponsible forestry practices, results in longer and more severe wildfire seasons. Fire chiefs and federal party leaders agree that firefighters need more resources to face the front lines of the climate crisis.
Our second action phase starts Feb 6 in Ottawa. Join us.
Climate Liberation Aotearoa, New Zealand
Climate Liberation Aotearoa, New Zealand
The climate crisis is here and now, and it’s shaping the rest of our lives. Our political and economic systems have failed us and now we face the collapse of our economy, ecology, and society, but together we can find ways to look after each other and the natural world on which we depend.
Our plan is to transform society by building people power. To do this, we demonstrate the effectiveness of working alongside each other in a systematic, well organised way that achieves results. It’s up to every one of us to decide. We can liberate ourselves and each other. Or we can live in distraction and powerlessness.
Our opponents have big money, sophisticated marketing, and technology which they are unleashing relentlessly to pursue their goals. In response, Climate Liberation Aotearoa is here to organise resistance to the destruction of our home, and to take back our power.
This year we are focusing on transport emissions and pollution. This means 1. Travel Less, 2. Travel Active, 3. Travel Public, 4. Travel Electric. Our first win will be to move the dial on cruise ships – a type of luxury emission worse than flying which we can all do without. Join us to find out more about how we plan to win. In action there is friendship, hope, and love. The first step is to show up.
Our Demands
- Count international shipping and aviation emissions in our climate targets and emissions reduction plans. We need to include cruise ship emissions at a local level and in our national emissions reduction strategy.
- No subsidies for the cruise ship industry. Ratepayers contribute to the profit of cruise ship corporations through subsidised on-shore transport including buses and rail, as well as sponsoring NZ Cruise Assn conference, promotion, and training and admin costs for cruise ship volunteers.
- No cruise ships in ecologically sensitive areas such as Milford Sounds, Marlborough Sounds and Hauraki Gulf Islands. Cruise ships run on heavy fuel oil which produces both greenhouse gases and high amounts of very small air pollution which contributes to smog, acid rain and health impacts of cancer, asthma/lung damage.
Återställ Våtmarker, Sweden
Återställ Våtmarker, Sweden
Återställ Våtmarker (Restore Wetlands) started with highway blocks on March 28, 2022. Since then we have managed to vastly raise public awareness on the urgency of restoring wetlands. From being a question discussed in niche contexts, and a marginalised and underfunded point on the political agenda, our peaceful protests have brought restoration of wetlands to the fore.
Besides it now being part of the national climate tactic debate, and a question constantly featured in the media, Swedish politicians have been forced to respond. Although their responses so far have been nothing more than greenwashing budget proposals, and calls for more repression, their need to respond shows the efficacy of disruptive peaceful protests. Their failure to act shows the inadequacy of our current political system. And that’s why repression, ridicule and raging politicians can’t make us back down. The people want to live!
Folk Mot Fossilmakta, Norway
Folk Mot Fossilmakta, Norway
Folk Mot Fossilmakta was started in the summer of 2024 and came out of the previous A22 project in Norway: Stopp oljeletinga. We use non-violent civil disobedience to expose the entrenched power of the oil industry in Norway. We have 3 concrete demands to the government;
- Divest the Government Pension Fund Global out of fossil fuels
- Ban fossil fuel advertising
- Regulate the oil industry by working with other countries to develop a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
We work to wake the Norwegian public up to the realities of climate collapse and to expose Norway's role as a major oil producing nation. Entrenched power like the oil industry does not listen to petitions and letters - it listens when people are prepared to put themselves in the way of it. Norway likes to present itself as a climate leader while it is not even doing the most basic things when faced with climate collapse. The Government Pension Fund Global is still the biggest investor in fossil fuels in Europe, even though the government has claimed they want to make it the leading fund in the world in terms of responsible investment and climate risk. At home, Equinor (our state owned oil company) advertises at many of the major sporting and cultural events as well as in all of Norway's biggest newspapers. We believe this is a threat to democracy because it means that they have free reign to own the narrative amongst the public and to shape policy around further development of Norway's oil reserves.
We aim to mobilise many ordinary people to engage in peaceful civil resistance against the entrenched power that is making Norway complicit in climate collapse.
Just Stop Oil, UK
Just Stop Oil, UK
Just Stop Oil is a nonviolent civil resistance group demanding the UK Government stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects.
Allowing the extraction of new oil and gas resources in the UK is an obscene and genocidal policy that will kill our children and condemn humanity to oblivion. It just has to stop.
Hundreds of independent scientists, MPs, NGOs and even the government’s own climate advisors agree — it’s time to take the basic first step and end the licensing of new dirty fossil fuels. Our job now? To make sure the corrupt politicans in power have no option but to do the right thing.
act now! Switzerland
act now!, Switzerland
act now! is a Swiss civil resistance movement working towards a nonviolent revolution in the face of the climate catastrophe. Since 2022, we have launched two major action campaigns targeting Switzerland’s two largest sources of domestic emissions: Liberate Switzerland, advocating for climate-friendly transport and soft mobility, and Renovate Switzerland, pushing for large-scale thermal renovation of buildings.
In just a few years, we have organized over 100 nonviolent actions, held more than 500 welcoming talks and awareness-raising events across the country, and trained hundreds of people in nonviolent actions. On average, our actions have resulted in two media articles per day mentioning our demands, the climate crisis, or civil resistance.
Our movement is driven by more than 300 volunteers—people of all ages and backgrounds, united by a shared determination to act. Together, we cultivate both individual and collective power, creating spaces where people can come together, be heard, experience moments of joy, and take meaningful action against the unfolding climate crisis.
We foster cooperation among accountable and responsible individuals, building a movement where everyone has a role to play, regardless of age or social background. Transparency and participation are at the core of our values, guiding us as we work toward systemic change.
Nødbremsen, Denmark
Nødbremsen, Denmark
Nødbremsen ("The Emergency Break") is a Denmark-based climate campaign, launched in September 2023, using civil resistance against the government's active and deliberate escalation of the ongoing climate collapse.
The Danish Government pretends to be spearheading climate action but is doing the opposite. One of the many examples of this is the decision to spend DKK 26 billion (3.5 billion Euros) on building 15 new highways before 2035. Denmark - a relatively small country - already ranks #7 in the EU when it comes to km highway per capita. Meanwhile, the prices for public transport are increasing and bus routes are closed down - especially in areas where people already are quite dependent on having a car. The 3.5 billion Euros that will be spent on building new highways could be spent on expanding public transport - and for the green transition in general.
The 15 new highways will not only emit more than 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 in their construction phase, but they will also create a lock-in effect for decades where the number of cars will increase. In addition to the climate effects of the highways, they are causing irreparable destruction of the sparse and vulnerable nature and biodiversity across the country.
The local campaigns against the highways and the NGOs are systematically ignored by the government - and the government has publicly said that they "have listened to the interest of private companies" when deciding on building the new highways.
In Nødbremsen, we are peacefully blocking roads & highway exits and disturbing cultural events with the simple demand to the government that they cancel the 15 new highways.
DROP Fossil Subsidies, Switzerland
DROP Fossil Subsidies, Switzerland
DROP was founded in April 2024, to focus civil resistance around social justice and take a more direct approach against the elite trifecta - Corporations, Government and Media - that are driving the Climate Crisis.
Our demand highlights that the Government continues to subsidise the Fossil Economy to the tune of CHF 12 Billion per year. The primary and ultimate beneficiaries of this are corporations who sell the cars, the flights and the heavy industry these subsidies support. The citizens of Switzerland will be entering a tumultuous transition where their living conditions and the social contract will be turned on its head whether they like it or not. In this transition it is the government's job to support them, including financially to ensure that the poorest in our society are secure.
Fossil Subsidies highlight the criminal negligence of this government. They put a millionaire and billionaire class ahead of the rest of their citizens. The capitalist media ensures that the profit first propaganda of the rich is maintained as in the societies interest.
Anchoring our movement as part of a wider ecology of movements spanning from alternative communities to grassroots community organise to democratic socialists, DROP seeks to use Direct Action to challenge the elite trifecta and - in partnership and coordinated with others - build a new grassroots democracy that undermines and erodes the power of the trifecta to build a rupture with fossil capitalism.
Ostatnie Pokolenie, Poland
Ostatnie Pokolenie, Poland
Ostatnie Pokolenie (Last Generation) was founded in January 2024 and started a campaign of civil disobedience in March 2024. The demands are to shift all the money planned for expansion of new highways and expressways (68 bln EUR up to 2033) to regional public transport to fight transport exclusion and to introduce a monthly ticket for all public transport for 50 zł (12 EUR).
In March, Ostatnie Pokolenie made headlines by disrupting a concert and throwing paint on the statue of Warsaw Mermaid. During that time a letter with the demands was given to the Prime Minister Donald Tusk with a 5 weeks deadline to accept it. After lack of response from the government, people began to block bridges in the capital for 2 weeks.
The transportation sector in Poland is one of the very few sectors in the economy where emissions keep rising (from 2005 to 2017 up by 77%). At the same time, there is a very substantial social problem with the lack, or very poor access, to public transport services in Poland. Over 10 million Poles (out of 38 mln) are affected. The current government is withdrawing from climate policies promised during the election’s campaign.
Ostatnie Pokolenie is there to make them stop. Until a livable future is in reach.
News
Latest developments, from across the network
- Opens in a new pageNewsletter April 2025
This Easter, Climate Liberation Aotearoa along with 350 Aotearoa organised an encampment on the Denniston Plateau, where Bathurst Resources have plans to expand what is already Aotearoa's largest mine. Tens of protesters, both young and old, persisted through days of torrential rain to show that they will not allow Bathurst to destroy the pristine 40-million year old environment for the sake of profit. During the 4-day encampment people shared food, song and spent time in awe at their surroundings, while grieving for what has and could be lost.
On the third day a group of six protesters occupied cable cars carrying coal from the existing Stockton mine. Some of them spent 60 hours in the air, enduring the elements, as well as the security guards’ harassment, and ended up shutting down the coal transports for three days. Eleven people, including the climbers and on-the-ground supporters, are facing charges of wilful trespass, awaiting court dates in mid-May.
The last weeks have been turbulent for Återställ Våtmarker. After two summers of protest and disruption their goals - public education on peat being a fossil fuel, and a national ban on peat mining - are closer than ever. Just days before the start of their next action wave, however, the far right held a parliamentary debate on whether climate activists, as the number one security threat in Sweden, should be preventatively and indefinitely imprisoned.
The action wave started in spite of these warnings. Two people were sent into custody and held for 20 days for spraying paint on private jets. They are being prosecuted with a possible sentence of 50,000 SEK cleaning costs and prison time. The phase picked up heat three days later, when protesters entered the national treasure, Vasaskeppet – a 17th century ship and one of Sweden’s national symbols - and dropped a banner from the railing. Over the Easter holiday airplanes were stopped every single day; people walked onto the runway, locked themselves up with chains, flew in drones, and even made a picnic on the asphalt. All of this sparked a discussion on the climate crisis and appropriate action, keeping it on the front pages for weeks.
After the phase ended the far right, hand in hand with the liberals, moved to create new oppressive laws against climate protesters, and began trying to dismantle the Institute for Human Rights in Sweden. This is what radical, disruptive actions do: politicians show their true faces and hidden conflicts are brought into daylight.
April has been a time of action for Nødbremsen, who have introduced simultaneous blockades to their action plan, thereby ramping up the scale of their structural pressure, in turn amplifying the coverage and debate which the protests spark. These have been motivating more citizens to join in, as they too draw the conclusion that peaceful protest is the necessary response to the government’s continued complicity in the escalation of the climate collapse. These persistent protests have brought them to the front page of Denmark’s largest newspaper.
A personal story from Denmark:
My name is Petra, I am 24 years old, and I have been a part of Nødbremsen for about a month. I have spent a lot of my life on the sideline, seeing people I knew taking part in climate action. I can sit and wonder why I never really considered joining them before now, why I didn’t help them in blocking roads when the opportunity arose. Why I only ever went as far as attempting to reduce my own carbon footprint, as well as civilly and obediently walk in a few climate-marches with my friends while maybe mostly using it as an opportunity to hang out.
Maybe I just lacked the courage before and have now managed to gain it, but I don’t see myself as courageous right now, I’m maybe more anxious than ever. I get terrified from being home alone, being in the dark and when driving in a car.
When I was in my very first blockade, police used a pain grip on my left hand to a point where I lost sense of touch in it for a couple of hours, and I felt the pain lingering for over a week, but that didn’t really make me scared. Why?
The biggest change to me has been the realisation that the current world cannot really support me. It cannot really support my dream to be a musician and artist, as it’s not able to give me a stable living, it cannot really support my gender, as I’m not cis, it cannot really support my love, as I’m not straight, it cannot really support empathy, as it prioritises individuality, it cannot really support well-being, as it prioritises profit, and most importantly it cannot even really support life anymore, as we are headed towards a climate collapse.
However, what I have realised even more is that I also have an extremely strong belief that all of this can be changed for the better, and that is why I have decided to take part in the resistance now. Because as infinitely sad as it is to realise that the world doesn’t really support your existence and well-being, as you may have been led to believe, and that you, personally, have to fight for it to change, that is also where I find the courage to stand and block the road, meet angry drivers, and most horrifyingly face the violence from the police, because I know that I’m doing it because there is an opportunity for a better world that we absolutely need to make happen.
After taking successful action against the fossil fuel sponsoring of the Ski World Championships, Folk mot fossilmakta have chosen their next target: the fossil fuel lobby in the arts and culture. The Festspillene music festival in Bergen taking place at the end of May is one of the biggest cultural events in Norway and, to no one's surprise, they are heavily sponsored by fossil fuel companies. But how can the arts be a platform for free expression when they are backed by the companies that are wrecking the world around us?The campaign is currently in an integration phase, and the next actions will focus on bringing in and upskilling new people into the process, while giving the current members more experience in action. A workshop was hosted and concluded with a plan for the months ahead, as well as gaining motivation and skills for mobilization and integration. The aim is to build up capacity for sustained disruptive actions in the future, for which more heads and hands are needed. Get ready for a ruckus!
In Switzerland, 12 billion euros a year in subsidies is spent to keep the country in a fossil economy for decades to come. DROP! launched last year, blocking roads in German-speaking Switzerland and disrupting major events such as Art Basel and the WEF. This year, they are focusing entirely on cooperation and networking between the numerous Swiss climate and anti-capitalist activist groups.
In April the group has been organising a Summit of Movements, taking place this summer, which will bring together a wide variety of groups and individuals to coordinate their range of tactics, strategies and narratives, developing an ecology of movements to create an impact greater than the sum of the individual actions. A key part of this is building central resources that can be shared among the individual movements. They have identified establishing a shared legal team as a first step towards this goal and therefore held an inaugural meeting with the legal teams of the other campaigns.
April made it clear: in Canada, nonviolent climate defenders are punished while the billionaires destroying our planet are protected. Jacob Pirro and five others received criminal records for peacefully blocking the Valero oil terminal in 2022, while Olivier Huard was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest for the same nonviolent action. Eulalie, who spray painted a Tesla dealership, remains under a gag order and cannot speak or work with Last Generation Canada. This is political repression, and further proves how urgently the system needs change. While our governments, liberal or conservative, protect corporate interests, the Last Generation will keep on demanding that the rich be taxed and the people protected. The spring wave of action is coming, and nobody is backing down.
Poland is now a thousand years old - but it may not survive the next fifty years. By disrupting the dominant narratives of the ruling party, and exponentially increasing their mobilising efforts, Ostatnie Pokolenie is fighting for their future.
On the anniversary of the Smoleńsk catastrophe – a national tragedy, which has been used as political fuel by the far right - a protester climbed the monument to the victims and threw fake blood on it. They spoke in honor of the victims; the ones in the catastrophe, who were important figures of modern Poland, but also the billions of innocent people that will die fighting for water and food because of the ruling regime’s incompetence. This sparked a national conversation on what’s an appropriate response to the coming climate catastrophe, and whether the transformative power of symbols and tragedies should be harnessed for good.
They’ve also set a bold goal – to have 150 people committed to blocking Warsaw’s bridges in the peak of the presidential election campaign. The aim? To pressure the government's candidate to organise a meeting with the Prime Minister. These brave people have now been gathered, and in the coming weeks, the capital will grind to a halt if their demands are not met.
Act Now! has been carrying out in-depth work and an internal consultation on the movement’s 2025–2028 Vision. After three years of an adventure that began with the Renovate Switzerland campaign—filled with trials, errors, successes, and experimentation—the movement now feels ready to look further ahead.Rooted in the DNA of the group, the 2025–2028 Vision aims to inspire and bring fresh momentum, while setting out key strategic directions for the next three years. A major nonviolent campaign, a school, and a media platform: six projects organized around three strategic pillars form the core of this plan. There will be space for everyone to contribute! They are inviting all interested people for a 90-minute online session to share their thoughts, meet others and get to know the pathways to action.
In Germany, the New Generation has set itself the task of bringing justice to democracy. The German parliament is heavily influenced by financially backed lobbyists. In some cases laws are proposed directly by lobby associations; more lobbyists have access to the German Bundestag than there are members of parliament. All of this is extremely non-transparent and serves a small, extremely wealthy group of people.That is why the New Generation has randomly chosen sixty people from the three hundred that have volunteered, and will form a “Parliament of the People”. Setting up shop on the lawn directly in front of the Bundestag building, where the “Parliament of Money” sits, these sixty will meet at the end of May to discuss how German society can push back on financial influences in government, so that policies are made for the good of the people. The demands drawn up will then be presented to the parliament and society in a major action phase.
Taking advantage of the parliamentary deadlock and blatantly disregarding the concerns raised by Italian president Sergio Mattarella, the government bypassed parliamentary discussion in order to impose a repressive bill criminalising among other things passive resistance in jail and introducing the possibility for pregnant women to be incarcerated.Michele, a history teacher at a high school in Rome and member of Ultima Generazione, began a hunger strike to protest the authoritarian move by the Italian government. He said: "Today, I have begun a hunger strike. Every morning, I will sit in front of the Quirinale Palace—except on days when I’m teaching. I am doing this to urge President Mattarella not to enact the security decree. His brother died for this democracy, murdered by the mafia. Mattarella must simply reject this decree. Will he rise to the level of his brother and the country he represents? I cannot teach my students the history of the Resistance and then stay silent in the face of a decree that criminalizes dissent. For me, striking is an act of responsibility and integrity—the only response I find worthy of the gravity of what is happening." The president buckled under the government’s pressure and signed the bill on the very same day, but Michele’s act had gained the cause massive visibility and has now inspired other progressive personalities to join in the hunger strike.
- Opens in a new pageNewsletter November 2024
Have you ever heard about the repression backfire effect? That is when harsh state repression for protest creates attention and sympathy for the repressed and criticism for the actions taken by the state. It can play a crucial role in achieving a political goal.
Repression can take many forms: police raiding houses, high fines, holding people on remand, long prison sentences, being illegally stripped naked in police custody, politicians slandering people for legitimate and peaceful protest, lawsuits worth millions or simply violence and aggression by police.
Many of our projects have experienced different forms of repression as it is the most effective tool used by those in power to crack down on protest. And although it is a key element of peaceful civil disobedience, repression is scary. Therefore, this christmas, we’ll ensure that the resistance can grow and endure the repression. Donate now to our Christmas fundraising campaign!
Donate now for our Christmas fundraiser!
People from Letzte Generation Germany have experienced some of the harshest repression. Along with many others, Regi was woken up by police at 6 a.m., had their room raided and searched. Regi was put into a prison cell more than 25 times and held on remand for eleven days. “This scares me”, they say. “Repression is made to break us. It is hard to admit that the house raid made me unable to fall asleep for several months. It is hard to admit that repression does exactly what it is supposed to do”.
However, repression is also a sign that the protest is effective - there is no point in repressing people who are irrelevant in the first place. In Germany, people carry the weight of repression together. Regi had a whole care team after the house raid, cooking and reminding them to brush their teeth. For every person going on trial, there are several people coming along to bring snacks, hugs and advice. Carrying the consequences together is “I feel like the biggest superpower we have”, adds Regi.
However, sometimes repression will also take ridiculous forms. The state attorney's office in Munich was spying on people’s phones to find out more about the leaders of Letzte Generation. Interestingly, this information could be easily found by a simple google search. So people put up posters at the state attorney's office with screenshots on how to perform this google search. Lars explained that they would happily help the authorities in this matter so they will have more time to investigate the real criminals: oil bosses and politicians who break the law. Check out the funny video of the action, English subtitles are available.
In Sweden, we did what our government won’t: We reduced carbon emissions, and put human life and nature before profit. People started to restore wetlands themselves, using only shovels and sheer will. This week's trial is the biggest trial so far in sweden. But this kind of repression exposes how deeply ingrained the fossil industry is into our societies that it’s shaped even our legal systems - not only in Sweden. Fossil industries are protected over nature, biodiversity and human life itself.
No matter how this trial and upcoming ones are ending: It’s a win for us. Either we will all be acquitted for trying to act on the climate catastrophe, or peaceful people digging with shovels are sent to prison, which will most likely lead to a lot of heated debates.
Oh! Have you already seen the video of us Återstall Vatmarker spraying Malmo airport in blood red paint on November 20th? We’ve had enough. We cannot continue to be obedient in a system that leads to collapse. People need to wake up! That's why we welcome everyone in Sweden with civil courage to shut down airports with us this Easter.
In Italy, our campaign Ultima Generazione has experienced some of the harshest penalty increases. The economic consequences are among the highest in Europe. A law has been approved that punishes actions on monuments with fines of up to €60,000. We happened to receive a fine of €20,000 each for having attached sheets of paper to the protective glass of Botticelli's Venus in Florence with scotch tape.
It's hard to say whether the repression helped or hindered us. On the one hand, in the weeks in which people were arrested some people got scared. On the other hand, the court hearings and similar events allow us to mobilize many people.
Giacomo (in the photo) is 33 and after taking part in a civil disobedience protest, their punishment included a ban on leaving their city and the obligations to stay home at night. “Fortunately, the judge recognized that I was not a dangerous person. For me it was an absurd situation, I struggled to believe it,” they say. “In the past I studied law and worked as a legal consultant, so being subjected to these accusations seems unjustifiable in a democratic state. I have always acted nonviolently, while it happened that the police were violent against me”
Recently, a new Italian law is being discussed which punishes roadblocks and other forms of resistance with prison sentences. The governments worldwide, and also the Italian one, are very busy criminalizing our protests. Instead, they could simply start to fight climate collapse: We would not protest anymore and they could save their time they are wasting now by criminalizing us.
The repression in Denmark for Nødbremsen is lower. After a roadblock, people are dragged to the sidewalk by the police and receive fines. And since we don’t leave on our own, it can happen that police are arresting us for sitting on a sidewalk. This is clearly illegal according to Danish law, because it is a blatant breach of the freedom of assembly. Police will also use pain grips to get us off the streets - people who just sit there peacefully.
In what world does it makes sense to construct 15 new highways in the midst of climate collapse? In none, and the Danish government is completely delusional, thinking that that could be the right thing to do. We are prepared to continue our protests against this government regardless of increased repressions in the future.
There are trials coming up, where we challenge our fines and the arrests made on the sidewalk. We look forward to presenting our case: We've acted in solidarity and empathy with both Danish and Global citizens, to protect our fundamental rights to liberty, safety and a livable planet - all of which are being actively attacked by our politicians' continued escalation of the climate collapse.
Remand for two weeks and then being released with electronic monitoring until trial starts is a reality in Aotearoa (New Zealand), if people support peaceful protest of Climate Liberation Aotearoa. Plus, police have started using smart repression - repression that is harmful, but invisible to the public. They give out formal warnings, which go onto our permanent records without the opportunity for a trial.
Our massive anti heli tours banner was seen from a total of 49 helicopters in not even 5 hours on that day - in the midst of the climate catastrophe. When cruise ships arrive in ports, we often unwelcome them with megaphones, flyers and slow walks in front of their buses. We make it impossible for passengers to be ignorant of the climate costs of their luxury holiday.
People are scared of repression. They are afraid to put their future opportunities at risk and go through the criminal justice system, which may pose harsh consequences. For Annabel, the repression of their actions is what drew them to the group: “I have had enough of legal protests which were simply ignored and dismissed as soon as they were over. Seeing people be arrested for causing disruption to the processes that is killing our planet gave me new hope. When the system is screwed, you must work from outside it in order to make change.”
Anne Klenge received her court hearing just recently. A year ago she sprayed the Monolitten in Oslo. “It felt like a weird gift to move around freely and I couldn't think straight. From the beginning on I had immense support from family and friends. So in the end, I left the courtroom feeling more impactful than I ever did. It’s not over yet and I believe there is a lot to win on the way,”
Repression on climate activism in Norway often takes the shape of high fines or compensation. Esther Hjerrild and Fridtjof Klareng from Stopp Oiljetinga (the earlier campaign before Folk mot fossilmakta) faced a 2,4 Million NOK (€ 205,000) compensation claim. Another paint action, where we even cleaned up after ourselves, resulted in € 1200 and a full 18 days of prison.
Our community in Norway built up an organization called Beskytt Demokratiet (protect democracy). Similarly to Rückendeckung für eine aktive Zivilgesellschaft in Germany, it seeks to support people who face repression with legal, financial and emotional aid. The goal is to have people’s back after they were brave enough to take action against fossil destruction.
The treatment of nonviolent protests, specifically Just Stop Oil supporters, has been some of the most extreme experienced by any A22 Network member project, labelled as "increasingly severe crackdowns" by the UN's Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, Michael Forst. Nothing motivates people more to resist the state and a broken political system than having a friend or a loved one in prison. Unfortunately, the general media coverage of the repression hasn't been very strong. This infringes on the democratic rights of everyone in this country and should be covered. We should all be absolutely outraged.
32 supporters of Just Stop OIl have been imprisoned this year and there are 21 who still remain inside. Their names are Larch Maxey, Christopher Bennet, Samuel Johnson, Daniel Knorr, Noah Crane, Ella Ward, Margaret Reid, Indigo Rumbelow, George Simonson, Phoebe Plummer, Anna Holland, Cressie Gethin, Roger Hallam, Lou Lancaster, Daniel Shaw, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Rosa Hicks, Rory Wilson, Adam Beard, Luke Watson, and Luke Elson.
This message is straight out of prison. Sam is currently remanded to Wandsworth “because I walked slowly in the road with about 40 others. We were there for a maximum of 20 minutes. I will be in here at least until my court date. It’s clear that the authorities still believe we can arrest our way out of the climate crisis without actually taking any positive action to address the underlying issue. I am here because I acted out of love and fear. Love for everything I hold dear, and fear for what we will lose. Stand up. Be counted. Love, Sam”.
We, the people of the A22 Network stepped in and took the responsibility that our leaders still refuse to take. We bear the consequences of our actions. Many of us are in prison, face trial or extremely high fines. We can only resist together.
This Christmas, you can make a difference. Instead of buying gifts for people who do not need anything new, we encourage you to support our Christmas fundraiser. To sustain and amplify our resistance in 2025, we aim to raise €40,000. Your support is not just a donation, it's a declaration of our shared moral responsibility to change the system. Together, we will uphold democratic values and nurture a future where freedom and love can grow.
We are a growing international network racing to save everything we love by using effective, nonviolent civil resistance across our 10 countries.
This newsletter gives an update on our work of November 2024 and summarises the repression people face for taking part in necessary peaceful civil resistance.
Support us. Join us. You are needed.
- Opens in a new pageNewsletter October 2024
Have you had a nice spooky season this october? As frightening skeletons and horror clowns surely are, they could never be as scary as the fossil fuel industry. What gives us the creeps is how oil and gas are still being drilled for fossil profits while our livelihoods are being destroyed.
Does this give you the creeps as well? If so, support the resistance and we’ll do our best to scare the shit out of fossil fuel executives.
We are starting high up in Canada: On October 22, two Last Generation Canada supporters climbed Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge, halting traffic for 7 hours to demand a National Emergency Management Agency and support for the Fossil Fuel Treaty. Olivier Huard and Jacob Pirro, along with police liaison Michèle Lavoie, were arrested.
Unlike a similar action in 2019, all three have faced harsh repression and denied bail. Michèle was later released with severe restrictions, while Olivier and Jacob remain jailed under harsh conditions, with Olivier beginning a hunger strike on October 26 to demand his release. Jacob and Olivier have become political prisoners for telling the truth."Why must a young man give up his future, or another starve himself, just to be heard?” asks Olivier,47.”We know our government is incapable of saving us. That’s why we must stand up and take action alongside people like Jacob and Olivier”, says their colleague Gill.
In Poland, we launched local groups across five major Polish cities, mobilizing a record number of new supporters. One in six of our current contacts joined in just the last month.
We also announced a blockade of Wisłostrada in Warsaw, set to begin on November 25th. Recent court rulings recognized our street blockades as civil disobedience, hinting that future generations may view our actions as heroic.However, prosecutors are seeking up to 8 years in prison for activists who dyed the Warsaw mermaid statue, citing damages of 360,000 PLN. Interestingly, the color was made from food dye and cornstarch. Just imagine if the prosecutors were this angry with fossil fuel executives instead of peaceful protesters?
Last month, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland received sentences of two years and 20 months for throwing soup at Van Gogh's Sunflowers—an action repeated shortly afterward on two paintings in the same series. In court, Just Stop Oil supporters challenged Shell’s anti-protest injunctions, which aim to suppress nonviolent resistance with government support. On November 2nd, we joined the Umbrella coalition as the "POLITICS IS BROKEN BLOC" (including Youth Demand, Assemble, and other groups) in a National Demonstration for Palestine, calling for systemic change. Meanwhile, 24 Just Stop Oil supporters remain in UK prisons.
In Denmark, we organized three more road blockades and disrupted the opening of the Danish parliament to demand urgent climate action. While our politicians have been enjoying leisurely holidays, the climate collapse has been escalating at an alarming rate.
And they still push projects like 15 new highways. We, the people, protest for a safe and fair future. Despite risks, including two participants being driven into during a protest, we continue our peaceful resistance. We stand in solidarity with campaigners worldwide facing severe repercussions, and we’ll keep pulling the Emergency Brake to protect lives and freedoms.“Accepting that anxiety and anger are part of our journey as climate protestors has softened my feelings, letting me finish this imperfect piece with a bit more peace”, says William who is taking part in the danish project.
For three weeks, hundreds of us gathered in Kassel, Germany, uniting in protest and community. Our focus: Kassel-Calden Airport, a local project costing millions in taxpayer money yet serving only a few flights. We turned it into a symbol of wasteful spending that harms our future. Our efforts gained traction, even prompting the Kassels’s Mayor to visit and discuss the issue publicly.
The major said: “‘The dogma of not being allowed to question the ongoing subsidisation of holiday flight operations is damaging the reputation of the entire business location, because anyone from the outside can clearly see the situation. People have been watching the airport and those who reflexively attest to its great future prospects with a certain amount of amusement for years now.”
Our protests sparked significant media attention and debate around the airport’s viability. One day we made a protest inside the airport building, even google noticing it, since it said that Kassel airport has more visitors ‘than usual’.
When the daunting darkness of fall is over us, some uplifting retrospection from Sweden might be in place. In April, we demanded protection for local wetlands and succeeded. So, we are moving next to ban peat mining—a destructive practice largely driven by Neova, a Finnish state-owned company.
In May, we blocked ditches meant to drain the Grimsås peat bog, delaying Neova’s mining plans by nearly a year. This summer, we returned, building a community-led nature reserve with 2 km of pathways, benches, and a bird-watching tower. If the state won’t protect our livelihoods, we need to do it ourselves! Our “Most Disobedient Nature Reserve” now protects the habitats of over 2,000 endangered species.
Come and visit the reserve if you’re ever around and don’t forget to pay us a visit as well!
Lastly, we’ll update you from the norwegian campaign: This October, we gathered 20 community members from across Norway to prepare for our goal: mobilizing 50 dedicated people for three weeks of sustained action in spring 2025.
We started with a two-day nonviolence training at a farm near Oslo, fostering trust and unity through shared experiences. Then, at a three-day strategy camp, we defined our core values—responsibility, courage, and community care—and developed a clear, sustainable plan to achieve our aims.
We left with renewed purpose, ready to grow our community of love and resistance and to challenge policymakers in the spring. We’ll keep them up and running - will you, too? Donate & support us now!
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