Earth Uprisings (Les Soulèvements de la Terre)
Sources
On 21 June 2023, the environmental organisation, "Les Soulèvements de la Terre" (Earth Uprisings), was dissolved by a French government decree put forward by the Minister of Interior. Les Soulèvements de la Terre is a group made up of local territorial defense collectives, environmental groups, farmers, autonomous collectives, naturalist groups and trade unions. Since 2021 they have organised several mass mobilisations against major projects, such as the creation of a reservoir for artificial snow in the ski resort of La Clusaz, the expansion of quarries for the cement company Lafarge or against water grabbing by agribusiness in different areas.
As a result of these actions, Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, labelled some of the activists “eco-terrorists” and initiated the process to dissolve the movement.
In reference to this decision by the French government, France’s Human Rights League said in a statement said: “Trying to silence the Soulèvements de la Terre is a vain attempt to break the thermometer instead of worrying about the temperature.”