By Antonia Cimini
PARIS (Reuters) – Camille Chaudron was among a dozen people arrested on Thursday while helping climate activists block the Concorde bridge in Paris, next to Parliament, to demand the government spend more on the thermal renovation of buildings.
The 33-year-old Instagram influencer helped place cast-iron radiators on the road in an act of civil disobedience that could translate into a fine and a jail term.
The action was led by the climate activist group Dernière Rénovation and was the first time Chaudron was taking part in an act of civil disobedience, a form of protest that is becoming increasingly popular among young people in France and abroad disillusioned by the political impasse on climate change.
For years, the Instagram influencer led a campaign online in favour of alternative environmentally friendly lifestyles, also engaging in street protests, petitions and online campaigns.
Last October, she went on a hunger strike to pressure the French government to abandon the construction of a motorway in the south of France.
Government’s inaction on issues such as pollution and the destruction of the environment has heightened her “climate anxiety”, she said.
Going the extra mile to carry out an act of defiance was thus a necessity, she added.
World leaders are gathering in Dubai since Nov. 30 for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which this year is focusing on the controversial issue of phasing out fossil fuels.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the meeting, said that the top priority is for the most advanced countries to move away from fossil fuels.
This year’s summit has been controversial because its president, Sultan al-Jaber, is the head of the UAE national oil company and he has also made a point of including oil and gas companies in the talks.
Activists taking part in Thursday’s action at the Concorde bridge called for a drastic increase in funds earmarked for thermal renovation, a measure needed to meet the France’s climate targets.
(Reporting by Antonia Cimini, Writing by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
