FRANKFURT: Activists from climate group “Last Generation” spray-painted Berlin’s famous Brandenburg Gate on Sunday, calling for the abandonment of fossil fuels and more action on climate change.

Six pillars of the monument at the heart of the German capital were sprayed with orange warning paint, the group said in a statement.

The paint spread to the Pariser Platz, the square at the foot of the monument, with bright footprints extending along the roadway.

Fourteen people were arrested at the site, police said, without any indication of acts of violence.

The demonstrators wanted to send the message that it is “time for political change” in order to “move away from fossil fuels”, according to the statement.

“We must get out of petrol, gas and coal no later than 2030. It is high time that (German Chancellor) Olaf Scholz speaks clearly,” Last Generation spokesperson Marion Fabian said in the statement.

Thousands of climate protestors, led by young people, demonstrated Friday in Berlin and across Germany calling on Scholz’s government to take more action to achieve the country’s climate goals.

Germany wants to reach net zero targets by 2045.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2023