Extreme weather failing to encourage political climate action, says activist Luisa Neubauer

Luisa Neubauer said she was shocked to see the destruction caused by extreme weather events such as Hurricane Helene ‘play into the cards of those denying climate disasters’ Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA

The rise in extreme weather is not generating political support for climate action, Germany’s best-known climate activist has warned, as conspiracy theories increasingly circle after disasters made worse by global heating.

“Like many, I did buy into the idea that big catastrophes would do something to politics,” said Luisa Neubauer from Fridays for Future Germany. “I bought into that – and I’m glad about it – because I was naively believing there was a democratic responsibility that would live through coalition changes and climate changes.”