Fridays for Future Projects 'Merz-less Climate Summit' onto Bundestag Building

On the evening of November 5, 2026, Fridays for Future activists projected large images and messages onto a Bundestag building in Berlin's government district, targeting Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his decision not to attend COP31, the UN climate conference under way in Antalya, Turkey. Merz cited "other commitments" for skipping the event, though a government spokesperson offered no precise reasons, saying only that there are "always different interests and different scheduling conflicts." The projected slogans included "Merzloser Klimagipfel" (Merz-less climate summit) and "Wir zeigen Merz, was Zukunft ist" (We show Merz what the future is). Fridays for Future declared: "That Merz isn't going to the climate conference shows once more that he doesn't care about young people's futures." The group announced follow-up protests on November 13 at more than 70 locations across Germany. Climate activist Luisa Neubauer had already called Merz's absence an "absolute taboo-break" the day before, especially in a year marked by record heat and numerous climate disasters across Europe. Nearly 200 nations are meeting in Antalya over two weeks to discuss curbing global warming and supporting poorer countries, with tens of thousands of diplomats, media representatives, and lobbyists expected to attend.