French Greens MP Lisa Belluco sparked controversy during a protest in Vienne, France, against the Duplomb Law, which lifted constraints on farmers regarding pesticide use and crop protection.
In her speech on June 29, she declared it “legitimate for environmental activists to resort to sabotage” in response to environmentally harmful infrastructure projects.
Belluco claimed she was not encouraging sabotage but empathising with activists’ frustrations, citing her own anger as a mother of two.
“You asked if we could drill pipes. Legally, we can’t,” she said. “… If I had two little boys under the age of two, that’s the case, and I was worried about their future, that’s the case, I would find it legitimate for environmental activists to resort to sabotage,” she said.
People in the crowd cried “bravo” and started to applause.
“Today, the deputies and senators are no longer there to defend the general interest,” Belluco continued. “They are here to defend particular interest, interest of money.”
Belluco, a member of the Nouvelle Union Populaire Écologique et Sociale (NUPES), said that the warm summer weather in France was proof of the “catastrophic” situation the climate was in.
Militant far-left activists could have been behind the sabotaging of France’s high-speed rail, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said. https://t.co/ULHmxz796T
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 29, 2024
The Duplomb Law, which permitted the return of toxic neonicotinoid insecticides and relaxed water storage rules, has fuelled tensions, with eco-activists increasingly turning to sabotage as a tactic across Europe.
Belluco then stated: “Obviously, I am not inviting you to do illegal things but I would completely understand if it could happen.”
She argued that projects such as mega-basins, which critics claimed prioritised large-scale agriculture over sustainable water management, provoked such acts of desperation.
Groups including Les Soulèvements de la Terre have increasingly turned to sabotage, targeting infrastructure they deemed ecologically destructive. The previous French government announced the forced dissolution of the movement, but this was rejected by the courts.
Belluco’s remarks, which she uploaded on Facebook, ignited a backlash, with critics including centrist MoDem MP Nicolas Turquois calling for her resignation, labelling the comments “absolutely intolerable” and an incitement to violence.
“No form of violence can be tolerated, wherever it comes from. Irrigation is not only allowed in France under strict rules but it is profoundly useful in ensuring the country’s food sovereignty,” he said.
“Summer water withdrawals have a proven impact on the environment and this is why, for years, the agricultural world … has been advocating the creation of water reserves that would be filled in winter when rainfall is abundant.”
Macron’s Renaissance Party said: “Political differences must be settled by discussion, debate, demonstration if necessary but in no case by violence”.
In several places in France, vandals have destroyed installations belonging to telephone operators SFR, Free and Bouygues. https://t.co/JRknWi53yy
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 30, 2024
