Dominika Lasota
Born26 November 2001 Edit this on Wikidata
OccupationClimate activist Edit this on Wikidata

Dominika Lasota (born 26 November 2001) is a Polish climate justice activist[1] who has been an active organizer in the Fridays for Future movement in Poland,[2][3] at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021[4] and in face-to-face talks with European leaders on climate justice and its relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5][6] The New York Times described her as characterising a "new brand of activist" in linking climate activism with opposition to the Russian invasion.[6] She is a founding member of the Consultative Council, created as the result of the October 2020 Polish protests.[7][8][9][10]

Childhood and education

Lasota was born on 26 November 2001.[11] She attended Stonyhurst College in England for two years around 2018–2019 and participated in youth camps in the United States.[12][13]

Climate activism

School Strike for Climate

Lasota is an activist in the School Strike for Climate (aka Fridays for Future) movement[2][14] and active in campaigning on European climate law and for a Just Transition, an economic transformation to a green economy that protects workers.[12]

Climate activism in Poland

Within Poland, Lasota was described by Paulina Sobiesiak-Penszko of the Polish Institute of Public Affairs in 2022 as "the face of the Polish climate action movement", and by Deutsche Welle as "the main organizer of climate strikes in Poland".[1]

Protests

On 15 June 2020, Lasota was one of the activists holding a happening in front of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland to pressure the Polish government on climate crisis issues in the 19 June 2020 European Council meeting. Lasota argued that since scientists' advice was listened to during the COVID-19 pandemic, the advice of scientists in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment and Special reports should also be listened to.[15]

Lasota criticised the failure of the Prime Minister's staff to intervene in an attack on a climate activist. The attack occurred during a meeting between politicians and the public in Bydgoszcz on 26 June, in relation to the 2020 Polish presidential election. Several "older people" attacked climate activist Malwina Chmara, "just 1.5–2 metres from the Prime Minister", according to Lasota. Lasota stated that "nothing was done to stop the attack".[7] Lasota and Chmara said that they didn't understand the reason for the violent attacks, and they found it hurtful that neither the prime minister's nor president's office apologised for the failure to intervene.[7]

In an August 2020 protest in front of the Ministry for State Assets, led by minister Jacek Sasin, Lasota stated that politicians excluded ordinary people from decision-making in relation to the climate crisis, instead favouring the Polish coal lobby.[16]

In a protest in Bydgoszcz in September 2020, she argued that the climate crisis affected people unequally since poorer people were less able to protect their houses from hurricanes and floods. She stated that effects of the climate crisis felt in Poland included the April 2020 forest fires in Biebrza National Park and farmers' losses due to drought. Lasota stated that she and the other climate activists intended to "challenge the Polish prime minister to a fair transformation" in relation to global warming.[8]

Media

In July 2022, together with atmospheric physicist Szymon Malinowski and climatologist Bogdan Chojnicki, Lasota was interviewed on TVN24 about the increased occurrence of droughts in Poland.[17]

COP26

At the November 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Lasota, together with other Fridays for Future activists including Vanessa Nakate and Nicole Becker, held a protest on 8 November, prior to a speech by former US president Barack Obama, arguing that he had failed to fulfill his promise to provide US$100 billion in climate funding to developing countries.[4] Later during COP26, Lasota argued that "the climate crisis has a gender. It's fueled by a lot of privileged white men from the global north, especially from the west. ... it's not a surprise that it is women who step up."[18] Lasota, Nakate and Greta Thunberg met Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, during the conference. Glasgow newspaper The Herald described Lasota, Thunberg and Nakate as leaders in limiting global warming. Psychology lecturer Yvonne Skipper described Lasota and her colleagues' meeting with Sturgeon as having "a galvanising effect" of encouraging other young people to take action against the climate emergency.[19]

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

In March 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lasota and three other Fridays for Future activists met with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Lasota described von der Leyen as being "strongly committed" to the aim of shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy.[5] Von der Leyen described Lasota and her colleagues as "very bright young women, very knowledgeable".[6] In May 2022, at the end of a talk by French president Emmanuel Macron, Lasota and Wiktoria Jędroszkowiak confronted Macron with questions arguing that the climate crisis should be stopped and that stopping the purchase of fossil fuels from Russia would help to stop the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Video of the interaction spread virally.[6]

The New York Times (NYT) described Lasota and Jędroszkowiak as "leaders in a dynamic new wing of the antiwar movement" in the sense that they combined opposition to the Russian invasion with climate activism. NYT defined the women as constituting "a different brand of activist — young, mostly female and mostly from Eastern Europe — who believes that the Ukraine war is a brutal manifestation of the world's dependence on fossil fuels" and who "confront Europe's leaders face to face".[6]

In late May 2022, Lasota, Jędroszkowiak and other activists held a protest in front of the European Commission Berlaymont building during a meeting of EU leaders discussing Russia-related sanctions. The activists interpreted the EU leaders' decision to embargo about 80 percent of Russian oil as "mixed success".[6]

COP27

Lasota and Wiktoria Jędroszkowiak attended COP27 in November 2022.[20] On 7 November, as one of the leaders of an activist group of Eastern Europeans, Lasota met von der Leyen again, arguing that no new investments in fossil fuels were justified, neither in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nor to the crisis in energy costs, nor to the climate crisis.[21]

On 8 November, Lasota briefly talked with Polish president Andrzej Duda on whether the government was sufficiently active in relation to the climate crisis.[20] Lasota's talk with Duda was seen by Polish media as the most important event of COP27 on 8 November.[22] Lasota stated to a TVN24 journalist that laws relating to the use of fossil fuels were passed easily in Poland while a law relating to wind turbines appeared to have been blocked, with the effect of delaying the development of clean energy in Poland.[23] In an interview with Wysokie Obcasy, Lasota stated that Duda's response to her question was "a lie and a climate foul (Polish: przewinienie), since sticking to the illusory belief and promise that we can continue with coal in today's times is scandalous".[24] Paulina Sobiesiak-Penszko of the Polish Institute of Public Affairs described Duda as an "old white m[a]n" who treated Lasota disrespectfully in their COP27 discussion.[1]

On 15 November,[25] together with Jędroszkowiak and Ukrainian activists Svitlana Romanko, Valeria Bondarieva and Viktoriya Ball, Lasota protested during a session held by Russians, whose 150-person delegation at COP27 included 33 fuel lobbyists. The activists called out to the Russian delegation that the Russians were war criminals who didn't have the right to be present at the conference and didn't deserve respect. Lasota asked, "How dare you sit here in peace? You're war criminals! You don't deserve any respect." Lasota called the Russians "despicable" (Polish: podłymi) and held up a banner "Fossil Fuels Kill" facing the Russian delegates. Lasota and the other activists were forced out by security personnel, and others, including members of the Polish delegation and German climate activists, also left the room.[26]

Lasota and Jędroszkowiak described COP27 as being to a large extent a greenwashing operation. They said that the climate activist community had been divided about whether to attend, given the human rights situation in Egypt during the el-Sisi presidency and the expectations of greenwashing. Lasota and Jędroszkowiak decided to attend the meeting with the aim of promoting decisions that favour people rather than those that favour the fuel lobby. They described the actual situation during the meeting as authoritarian, with activists' contributions to the meeting tightly controlled, and the activists feeling in danger and not taken seriously. Lasota and Jędroszkowiak called for support for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.[27]

Consultative Council

Lasota was chosen as one of the founding members of the Consultative Council created on 1 November 2020 in the context of the October 2020 Polish protests,[9][10] as a contact with the School strike for climate movement.[28]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grajewski, Łukasz (15 November 2022). "Dominika Lasota, the face of Poland's climate movement". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 Dickie, Mure (5 November 2021). "'After Greta': young activists harness social media to fire up global campaigns". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  3. ↑ Andrzejewska, Maria (20 October 2022). "Lasota: Mierzymy się z kryzysem, a nasi politycy uciekają (Rozmowa)" [Lasota: We're dealing with a crisis and our politicians are avoiding it (interview)]. Biznes Alert (in Polish). Jagellonian Institute. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 Collins, Katie (8 November 2021). "'Show us the money!' Young activists react to Barack Obama at COP26". CNET. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  5. 1 2 Jack, Victor (26 March 2022). "Von der Leyen meets youth climate activists to talk about Russian energy". Politico. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gettleman, Jeffrey (20 June 2022). "New Brand of Activist Takes Aim at Ukraine War and Climate Crisis, Together". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 "Młodzież walcząca o klimat: Nie chcemy nikogo prowokować, ale tylko przekonać do walki o wspólne dobro" [Youth fighting for the climate: We don't want to provoke anyone, but only to convince them to fight for the common good]. Portal Kujawski (in Polish). 20 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  8. 1 2 Mikołajska, Marta (26 September 2020). "Trzydzieści polskich miast w obronie sprawiedliwości klimatycznej. Jak było w Bydgoszczy? [zdjęcia]" [Thirty Polish towns in defence of climate justice. How about Bydgoszcz? [photos]]. Express Bydgoski (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  9. 1 2 Karwowska, Anita; Paś, Waldemar (27 October 2020). "Dymisja rządu i Julii Przyłębskiej. Czego jeszcze żąda Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet? Co się wydarzy w środę 28 października?" [Government and Julia Przyłębska to resign. What else does All-Poland Women's Strike want? What will happen on Wednesday 28 October?]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Rada konsultacyjna Strajku Kobiet przedstawiła swój skład i pierwsze postulaty" [The Consultative Council of the Women's Strike presented its composition and first demands]. Onet.pl (in Polish). 1 November 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  11. ↑ Dominika Lasota [@DominikaLasota1] (26 November 2021). "As I turn 20 today, I wish myself to witness and be part of ending the patriarchal, exploitative, capitalistic, lifeless, systems we currently live in. I want to live in a reality free of coal, oil & gas, free of ecosystems' destruction, and filled with sooo sooo much love ❤️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. 1 2 "Otwarty Program Mentoringowy 2020 – Gala finałowa – Dominika Lasota" [Open mentoring program 2020 – Final gala – Dominika Lasota]. Vital Voices (in Polish). 2020. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Dominika Lasota". Million Minutes. 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Mathiesen, Karl (28 April 2022). "Greta Thunberg doesn't want you to talk about her anymore". Politico. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  15. ↑ Noróć, Daria (18 June 2020). "Łańcuch dla Klimatu pod KPRM. 'Jaką przyszłość nam zbudujecie?'" [Climate chain in front of the prime minister's chancellery. 'What future are you building for us?']. Alternatywa.net.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  16. ↑ Medoń, Sebastian (27 August 2020). "'Mamy 10 lat, by zapobiec katastrofie'. Protest młodych aktywistów przed resortem Jacka Sasina" ['We have 10 years to prevent catastrophe'. Protest by youth activists in front of the Jacek Sasin's ministry]. Smoglab (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Fale upałów w Polsce. Eksperci o problemie suszy hydrologicznej w Polsce" [Heat waves in Poland. Experts on the problem of hydrological droughts in Poland]. TVN24 (in Polish). 2 July 2022. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  18. ↑ Collins, Katie (16 November 2021). "Women are climate leaders, but they struggled to be heard at COP26". CNET. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  19. ↑ Leask, David (5 November 2021). "COP26: Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate — the climate poster girls heard at last". The Herald. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  20. 1 2 Danielewicz, Marta (8 November 2022). "Kim są aktywistki z Polski, które skonfrontowały Andrzeja Dudę na szczycie klimatycznym COP27 w Egipcie? 'Chcemy być solą w oku'" [Who are the Polish activists who confronted Andrzej Duda at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt? 'We want to be a thorn in the side']. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  21. ↑ Godlewska, Paulina E. (7 November 2022). "Polska aktywistka do szefowej KE: Nie można zwalczać ognia ogniem" [Polish activist to the head of the European Commission: we can't fight fire with fire]. Interia (in Polish). Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  22. ↑ Zuchowicz, Katarzyna (10 November 2022). "Kim są "Polskie Grety Thunberg"? To one ostatnio zasłynęły starciem z Dudą na COP27" [Who are the 'Polish Greta Thunbergs'? They've recently become known for the confrontation with Duda at COP27]. NaTemat.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "'Chciałbym, żeby w górach był śnieg, a na nizinach ciepło', 'A ja żeby nie było kryzysu klimatycznego'. Pytania aktywistki do prezydenta" ['I would like there to be snow in the mountains and warmth in the valleys', 'And I would like there to be no climate crisis'. Questions from activists to the President]. TVN24 (in Polish). 8 November 2022. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  24. ↑ Wantuch, Dominika (20 July 2022). "Dominika Lasota, aktywistka na COP27: 'Działalność klimatyczna Andrzeja Dudy kończy się na corocznym sadzeniu drzew'" [Dominika Lasota, COP27 activist: 'Andrzej Duda's climate activism is nothing more than a yearly tree planting']. Wysokie Obcasy (in Polish). Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  25. ↑ Nasralla, Shadia; Dickie, Gloria; James, William; Evans, Dominic (15 November 2022). "Protesters disrupt Russian event at COP27 climate conference". Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  26. ↑ Danielewicz, Marta (16 November 2022). "'Jesteście podli!' Polskie i ukraińskie aktywistki na szczycie COP27 przerwały panel zorganizowany przez rosyjską delegację" ['You're despicable!' Polish and Ukrainian activists interrupted the Russian delegation's panel at COP27]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022. Jak śmiesz siedzieć tu w spokoju? Jesteście zbrodniarzami wojennymi! Nie zasługujecie na szacunek – dołączyła do ukraińskich aktywistek Dominika Lasota. Nazywając rosyjskich polityków 'podłymi', wyciągnęła w ich stronę baner z napisem 'Fossil Fuels Kill'.
  27. ↑ Lasota, Dominika; Jędroszkowiak, Wiktoria (17 November 2022). "Niebezpiecznie, niepoważnie, pełno Rosjan. Dlaczego pojechałyśmy na COP27?" [Dangerous, shallow, full of Russians. Why did we go to COP27?]. Krytyka Polityczna (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  28. ↑ Czarnacka, Agata (1 November 2020). "13 postulatów Strajku Kobiet. O co walczą?" [Women's Strike's thirteen demands. What are they fighting for?]. Polityka (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
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