German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday questioned the recent tactics used by climate protesters as he visited the Japanese city of Kyoto, the birthplace of a key environmental agreement.
Steinmeier said he appreciates growing public awareness of environmental issues, and he called for decisive action in the fight against climate change.
However, he questioned whether protests involving throwing food at paintings and glueing oneself to objects or buildings were effective, in reference to recent protests in Germany and across Europe.
"The question is whether what we are also seeing these days, that precious paintings are being pelted with food or people are sticking themselves to streets, really helps the climate goal," Steinmeier said.
"I'm afraid that it rather calls into question the broad social support for more and more decisive climate protection, or rather robs us of the chance to make this support even greater," he concluded.
During his visit to the ancient imperial city, Steinmeier remembered the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"The spirit of Kyoto must live on," the German president said in his speech at Doshisha University. "We must not fall behind on implementation, despite the many crises," Steinmeier warned. "Rather, we must go even further."
The German president expressed hope that the upcoming COP27 world climate summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh would "maintain the ambition to fulfill the commitments of Paris and Glasgow."
By signing the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, international state parties committed themselves for the first time under international law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In a first step, the industrialized countries agreed to reduce their emissions by a total of at least 5% from 1990 to 2012.
The agreement, which entered into force in 2005, has so far been ratified by 191 states and the EU. While having signed the protocol in 1998, the US remains the only industrialized country which has yet to ratify it.
