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Climate Activists in France & Norway Engage in Direct Action Protests Outside Gov’t Ministries

HeadlineFeb 28, 2023

About 15 climate activists chained themselves to the French Finance Ministry in Paris on Monday in a protest demanding debt cancellation for countries in the Global South and for wealthy polluting nations to pay a climate debt. The activists, who wore red jumpsuits and masks, splattered fake blood on the walls of the ministry.

Extinction Rebellion protester: “We are chained up just like the countries which are most affected by global warming and are tied down by the debt they have to reimburse, which keeps them from putting money where they need it to protect themselves.”

Meanwhile, in Norway, dozens of Indigenous and climate activists chained themselves to the doors of Norway’s Energy Ministry on Monday to protest the placement of wind turbines on land traditionally used by Indigenous Sámi reindeer herders. The protest continued today when activists blocked access to Norway’s Finance Ministry. This is the Sámi musician and activist Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen.

Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen: “We are here to protest against the ongoing human rights violations, against Fosen, where 151 wind turbines are on the land illegally — that’s according to a high court decision — but they are there anyway, so we demand that they should be taken down and that Indigenous peoples’ rights should be respected.”

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