Last summer, the activists of the Återställ Våtmarker movement tied themselves to the work machines of a Finnish company. Now the same movement participated in the demonstration in the Parliament.
11:30•Updated 12:01
On Wednesday, the climate movement called Återställ Våtmarker participated in knocking down the columns of the Parliament building.
The reason is the Finnish company Neova’s peat extraction, says the organization’s spokesperson Helen Wahlgren In Stockholm by phone to .
He says that the demonstration was carried out together with the Suomen Elokapina.
– The reason is that Neova, owned by the Finnish state, raises turf in Sweden, says Walhgren.
According to him, the initiative to paint the Parliament building was a joint one. There were at least seven people from Sweden in Helsinki.
The Finnish Neova, formerly Vapo, raises turf all over Sweden. The Finnish state owns 50.1 percent of Neova’s shares. The rest is owned by a limited company called Suomen Energiavarat.
Walhgren criticizes the fact that Neova is Sweden’s largest peat extractor.
– Construction sites are like deserts. Everything is black and dead. Biodiversity has been destroyed, he says.
“We are a business, not an organization”
The Återställ Våtmarker air conditioner business was founded in Sweden in 2022. The name loosely translates to “restore the wetlands”.
According to Walhgren, the number of members is not kept accurate, because it is not an organization but a movement. He estimated that a couple of hundred people were involved in the activity.
Återställ Våtmarke was In the headlines in Sweden in August, when it organized a demonstration in a village called Grimsås. Activists, among other things, attached themselves to Neova’s work machines with chains.
In May, the movement demonstrated in front of the Finnish embassy in Stockholm.
In May 2023, movement activists stormed the stage during the finale of a popular TV dance show. It’s about the Swedish version of Dancing with the Stars.
Activists have also been blocking highways. Liike said in the summer for Swedish televisionthat such activities have been stopped and the main focus is now on the marshes.
The movement opposes peat extraction, because burning peat and draining bogs produces climate emissions. In addition, the marsh habitat is destroyed when the peat is dug up.
The same network as the Stonehenge bullies
According to Helen Walhgren, Återställ Våtmarke operates as part of a large international network called A22.
The shops belonging to the network have organized similar demonstrations in many countries.
In Germany, an organization belonging to the network has messed with the columns of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate several times.
In June, activists from the UK-based Just Stop Oil movement stained the Stonehenge monument in England orange with cornmeal.
The A22 network includes climate movements from different European countries.