UN rights chief: Protect ‘civic space’ for climate activists

BERLIN (AP) — The top United Nations human rights official said Friday that it’s important to protect the “civic space” for young environmental activists to highlight the urgency of tackling climate change. Volker Turk, who heads the U.N.’s human rights office, said that while the world still has much work to do curbing global warming, even the progress made wouldn’t have been achieved without youth protests. He told a Geneva news conference that “we should make sure that the civic space for them is protected and safeguarded, and not crack down in a way that we have seen in many parts of the world.” There are growing calls in Germany, Britain, Australia and elsewhere to stop activists from blocking roads and airports.