As part of a series of protests aimed at urging the government to take action against the climate crisis, Italian activists blocked a major road in Rome.
Activist from the Last Generation group, the group got Extinction Rebellion, Claiming that they were slapped, kicked and spit by angry drivers after they gathered along the Maglianella viaduct on the A90 highway.
This is the eighth time in the past 10 days that environmental activists have blocked roads in Rome. Eight militants were arrested on Wednesday.
Peter, one of the seven who participated in the protest on Friday morning, said: “I have exposed myself to danger and uncertainty because I am aware of the danger that we are running towards humanity.”
This is the first time that Italian climate activists have used the roadblock method to raise awareness and act as a Civil court casesIt was filed by 203 plaintiffs who sued the government for failing to resolve the climate crisis and started in Rome.
The main goal of the previous generation of activists was to force the government to establish a citizens’ assembly, thereby urging politicians to act quickly to solve the climate problem.
“Parliament should be created by the government before the end of 2022, and the decisions it makes must become laws, so this is more than just advising the government,” said Last Generation spokesperson Beatrice Costantino.
“We are a small group of people, but we will repeat this action until our request is accepted. We also ask for [prime minister] Mario Draghi and other ministers. The purpose of the meeting was to ask them why the government wants Italian citizens to have no strategy to deal with the climate crisis. “
Draghi pledged to put the environment at the top of his government’s agenda and established the Ministry of “Ecological Transformation” after he was appointed as prime minister in February. Approximately 59 billion euros (51 billion pounds) out of more than 200 billion euros Italy It is the investment that has been allocated to the green initiative from the EU’s post-epidemic economic recovery fund.
Costantino said that the government’s promise so far is only “greenwashing.” “They want to give the impression that they are considering this issue, but in reality it is not enough,” she said.
The plaintiff who took legal action against the government hoped that the civil court in Rome would order the government to adopt more ambitious climate policies, such as reducing carbon emissions by 92% by 2030. In 2019, Italy set itself a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 33% by 2030.
Italy is particularly vulnerable to climate change. The melting of glaciers in the country is accelerating, and extreme weather events, such as the rare flood that hit the Sicilian city of Catania in October, are becoming more frequent. Italy has experienced a long heat wave this summer. It is believed that a small town in Sicily broke the highest temperature record in Europe-48.8C in August. The heat wave has also exacerbated wildfires, especially in southern Italy.
“Italy is a real climate hotspot,” Costantino said. “2021 is also a bad year for Italian agriculture-we have lost a quarter of our fruit and nearly 80% of our olives.”
It is planned to set up further roadblocks on Saturday.
“The purpose of the destructive action is to get people to agree to this cause. Some drivers have expressed their support,” Costantino said. “We don’t want to be loved by people, but we want to talk about problems.”
