Milan, the guys from Fridays for Future in the square: “It’s time to say enough to the Russian blackmail on gas”

MILAN. “Russian bombs are paid for with our money, spent on gas and oil.” This is one of the messages of protest, contained in a sign of the “Global strike for the climate and against the war” of the young people of Fridays for Future in Milan, who today took to the streets to ask for “a real energy transition that does not exist today. And”. The link between the climate crisis and war is repeated several times by the demonstrators: “The climate crisis is the cause of wars: if we go and see where there are conflicts in the world, they are mostly in places that are suffering from desertification, where to grab the few remaining resources cause conflicts. It would therefore be better to go to the root of the problem, abandoning fossil fuels – says Sergio Marchese, referent of Fridays for Future Milan – Every time there is a new emergency, we forget what was promised only a few months ago, it had already happened with the pandemic, but we do not forget Draghi’s promises on renewables after the Glasgow COP while now there is even talk of going back to coal, which we consider absurd ».

In the Lombard capital, a thousand young people protest not only against the conflict in Ukraine, but against all wars: “For us there are no Serie A and Serie B wars, they are all wrong – adds Marchese – the one in Ukraine is emblematic, however. because it is closely linked to the energy issue: the background in fact concerns the sale of gas to Europe. If we were independent of fossil fuels, we would not be living through Russian blackmail. Not to mention the hypocrisy of our institutions that buy gas for the vast majority of cases from undemocratic governments and dictators ».

However, the climate crisis is experienced every day, the students say, even in Italy: “No one talks about it anymore but here in Lombardy, for example, we are touching the issue of drought first hand – explains Camilla, a first-year student of political science. and environmental at the state road – it hasn’t rained for months and the water, which is not there now, will fall all together destroying the houses. There is no mention of the impact that the lack of rain has on our health and also on our economy because some of the Made in Italy excellences will no longer be without water ».