Berlin: Climate activists block roads with adhesive in Berlin, causing tempers to flare

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) – Scores of climate activist glued themselves onto roads in Berlin on Monday morning. They blocked rush hour traffic while enraging some motorists.

Passers-by shouted and taunted the protesters in the “Letzte Generation”, who sat with their backs to the road in rows, facing busy intersections to pressure the government into doing more to combat climate change.

A man ran into a group of protesters, before being pushed by the police. He was then lifted up and told to calm himself down.

A video posted by the campaign group to Twitter shows a man dragging activists along a road, including one who is apparently being dragged by her ponytail. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of this footage, or confirm when or where it had been taken.

“This is simply unbelievable. Do we all have to suffer? There’s chaos all over the place, the city is in chaos. Just lock them up!” said a passerby named Ali, as he observed police removing protesters from the A100 highway.

The group asked the federal government for a detailed proposal on how Germany could achieve its goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 Celsius (2,7 Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

We no longer accept that government has no plans to stop the destruction our livelihoods. We’re fighting back now! Carla Rochelin, an activist from Last Generation, said this in a statement sent via email.

Police detained approximately 200 people across 35 locations in the city. Officers swabbed the palms of protesters and watched them as they walked on the tarmac.

The protests come less than one month after the campaigners failed in their referendum to force the city administration into implementing measures that would make it climate neutral by 2030.

Reporting by Riham alkousaa, Reuters TV. Editing by Andrew Heavens