Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate ... - Reuters
Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate protest | Reuters
Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate protest
[1/2]Police talk to Greta Thunberg as they move climate activists from the organization Ta Tillbaka Framtiden, who are blocking the entrance to Oljehamnen in Malmo, Sweden, June 19, 2023. TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson via REUTERS/File Photo
STOCKHOLM, July 5 (Reuters) - 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.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”