Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate protest - NBC News
Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate protest
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with disobeying a police order to leave a climate protest in the southern city of Malmo on June 19, according to daily Sydsvenskan.
On the day of the incident, Thunberg wrote in an Instagram post that protesters had blocked the road for oil trucks in Malmo harbour.
“The climate crisis is already a matter of life and death for countless people. We chose to not be bystanders, and instead physically stop the fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future,” she had said.
If convicted for disobeying a police order, Thunberg can be handed a fine or up to six months in prison.
“You have the freedom to demonstrate, but you must not demonstrate in such a way that it causes disturbances for others,” prosecutor Charlotte Ottosen said, according to Sydsvenskan.
The Swedish central prosecutor’s press office could not immediately confirm the report when contacted by Reuters for comment. Thunberg’s representatives could not be reached.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29