Police clear climate activists from Zurich street

Blocking traffic in Zurich on Monday Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion blocked three junctions in the centre of Zurich on Monday, demanding the government declare a state of climate emergency. Police moved in to break up the unauthorised demonstration.

The Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA reported that about 200 activists, including many from French-speaking Switzerland, had sat in the middle of Uraniastrasse, not far from the main station, with the aim of disrupting traffic.

They set up a boat in the middle of the street and waved banners reading “We want to live”, “Act now”, “Listen to science” and “We’ll be there again tomorrow”.

People of all ages had decided to demonstrate peacefully because they “can no longer accept that urgent action is not being taken”, Extinction Rebellion said in a statement. They are “alarmed by the climate catastrophe unfolding before their eyes”.

The city police cordoned off the area and gave the demonstrators an ultimatum to leave. Officers then started carrying demonstrators to the pavement. The activists did not resist their removal.

Zurich police said the demonstration had lasted from noon until 5pm and tram service on main shopping street Bahnhofstrasse had been disrupted for about 45 minutes.

Police carry away a peaceful Extinction Rebellion activist Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Not the first time

The protest comes amid a wave of civil disobedience by activists in Switzerland, where the climate is warming at about twice the pace of the global average and changing its mountain landscapes.

In 2019 around 300 people prevented traffic from crossing one of Lausanne’s busiest bridges. Earlier this year activists set up single-person roadblocks in a dozen cities including Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich and Bern. These protests have resulted in multiple court cases.

In June Extinction Rebellion asked the government to declare a state of climate emergency. In the absence of a response, they decided to bring traffic to a standstill in the centre of Zurich.