CAROLA RACKETE

Carola Rackete naceu o 8 de maio de 1988 en Preetz (Alemania) e estudou na Escola Marítima na Universidade de Ciencias Aplicadas de Jade en Elsfleth, obtendo un grado en Ciencias Náuticas e Transporte Marítimo en 2011. En 2018 obtivo un máster en Xestión de Conservación pola Universidade Edge Hill en Inglaterra. Fala cinco idiomas.

Viaxou moito por todo o mundo na súa vida, a miúdo soa. Antes e despois de graduarse, gañou experiencia como oficial de navegación, inclusive durante dous anos a bordo do crebaxeos polar alemán "Polarstern", pilotando o buque en expedicións científicas no Ártico e na Antártida, para o Instituto de Investigación Polar e Mariña Alfred Wegener. Ao chegar ao Polo Norte, foi testemuña por primeira vez do rápido quecemento do Ártico. A través de moitas conversas con científicos que traballaban na zona, comprendeu que os datos científicos por sí mesmos non motivarán acción política sobre a crise climática, e que a presión da sociedade civil é fundamental.

Como parte dun programa de voluntariado europeo, en 2014 traballou durante oito meses como voluntaria de conservación no Parque Natural Bystrinsky, na península de Kamchatka, ao leste de Siberia. Despois, traballou durante catro meses como oficial de seguridade para Silversea Cruises, unha liña de cruceiros de súper luxo con sede en Mónaco. 

Debido a que quería facer algo que tivera impacto político, en 2015 traballou durante sete meses como segunda oficial no buque "Arctic Sunrise" propiedade de Greenpeace.

Entre 2016 e 2017, tamén traballou en buques do British Antarctic Survey como oficial de cuberta, mentres estudaba o seu máster en Xestión de Conservación.

En 2018 uniuse á resistencia contra o desaloxo da ocupación do bosque de Hambach, preto da mina de carbón de Hambach, e despois participou nas primeiras ocupacións de pontes de Extinction Rebellion en Londres. Posteriormente, iniciou unha viaxe en tren para dirixir un estudo socio-ecolóxico que durou catro meses, entrevistando a persoas que traballan en conservación da natureza en China, en zonas polares, e post-soviéticas, sobre o seu traballo e como transforman a dor e a ansiedade en acción.

Entre 2016 e 2019 fixo labores voluntarias ocasionais para ONGs de rescate marítimo no Mediterráneo Central. A partir de xuño de 2019, Rackete comezou a capitanear o "Sea-Watch 3", un barco de 645 toneladas de bandeira holandesa.

O doce de xuño, o Sea Watch 3 recolleu 53 refuxiados cerca da costa de Libia. O barco rexeitou unha oferta de atracar en Trípoli, pois está considerado coma un porto perigoso, e dirixiuse cara a Lampedusa, o porto seguro máis cercano. O catorce de xuño, Italia pechou os seus portos para os barcos de rescate de refuxiados, pois Matteo Salvini non quería deixar que o barco atracase ata que outras nacións europeas aceptaran acoller ós refuxiados. Permitiuse que desembarcasen once persoas, entre as que había nenos, mulleres embarazadas e enfermos.

Durante dezasete días, o barco mantívose illado, emitindo constantemente mensaxes para pedir axuda, pois a embarcación non estaba deseñada nin preparada para subsistir con tantas persoas, e precisaban desesperadamente asistencia humanitaria. Dous pasaxeiros tiveron que ser evacuados por urxencias médicas. Durante este tempo, ningún goberno se ofreceu para acoller ós refuxiados, nin ningún organismo decidiu intervir, a pesares das numerosas peticións para resolver a situación de bloqueo que enviaron dende o barco.

O 29 de xuño Carola decidiu atracar no porto de Lampedusa, desobedecendo ordes dos militares italianos, pois a siuación volveuse insostible e perigosa para a integridade física das persoas que estaban a bordo, xa que os tripulantes ameazaban con tirarse á auga se non chegaba unha solución. Ela estaba cumprindo coa súa obriga en virtude do dereito marítimo internacional de levar a un porto seguro ás persoas rescatadas no mar, pero a policía italiana arrestou inmediatamente a Carola mentres un grupo da extrema dereita berraba insultos racistas. Acusárona inexplicablemente de "resistencia ou violencia contra un buque de guerra", un delito que implica una sentenza de tres a dez años de prisión, ademáis de ter que pagar máis de 300.000 euros en multas. Salvini, o promotor principal da súa detención, pretendía aplicar una política xenófoba “exemplar” de criminalización de tódalas organizacións e persoas solidarias que tentan rescatar refuxiados da morte no Mediterráneo, e consolidarse como a figura principal da extrema dereita en Europa.

Carola estivo baixo arresto domiciliario durante tres días, ata que a xuíza Alessandra Vella dictaminou que Carola cumprira co seu deber de protexe-la vida humana, e que non cometera ningún acto de violencia. O Tribunal Supremo italiano determinou en 2020 que a súa decisión estivera xustificada e que nunca debería ter sido arrestada.

Durante todo o incidente, Carola ignorou as ameazas e as constantes críticas e insultos persoais lanzados constantemente a través das redes sociais e dos medios por Salvini. "A dicir verdade non lin os comentarios, realmente non teño tempo. Teño que coidar a 40 persoas... O señor Salvini podería poñerse á cola". 

Despois de 2019, Carola continuou involucrándose en varias formas de activismo. Por exemplo, traballou como Oficial de Garda para Greenpeace nunha campaña no océano na Antártida, e posteriormente nunha campaña da Bob Brown Foundation  para impedir o aeroporto de Davis na Antártida. Ademais, en 2022 foi asistente de campo para o Climate Impact Research Council de Suecia, e en 2023 para a Universidade de Hamburgo na Antártida.

A pesar de ser unha persoa moi vinculada aos movementos de xustiza social e ambiental, e non ás istitucións estatais, en xullo de 2023, Carola anunciou que se presentaría como candidata independente ao Parlamento Europeo na lista do Partido da Esquerda Alemá, nas eleccións de xuño de 2024, e resultou elixida.

Manifestou que a situación é urxente: o fascismo ascende en Europa; a xente que busca refuxio está perdendo os seus dereitos; as corporacións de combustibles fósiles obteñen beneficios escandalosos mentres a xente sufre a crisis do costo de vida; e todos sufrimos as consecuencias da crise climática que se agrava. Ela cre que neste momento, os movementos que loitan pola xustiza non poden permitirse o luxo de ignorar as institucións estatais e precisan representación nas mesmas. A inxustiza social e o dano ecolóxico aumentarán fóra de control, a menos que a sociedade civil obrigue aos gobernos a tomar medidas drásticas.

Carola defende que as corporacións que causaron a crise climática teñen que rendir contas, ser socializadas, e o seu diñeiro debe ser empregado para financiar unha transición xusta. Débese cancelar a débeda do Sur Global, compartir o acceso á tecnoloxía, e aportar seguridade aos refuxiados. Débese evitar a evasión de impostos e o green-washing das corporacións, e loitar por estruturas de poder igualitarias, transparencia e democracia.

Desde a súa elección ao Parlamento, Carola continuou activamente coa súa axenda centrada na xustiza climática, a preservación ecolóxica e a equidade social, e situouse como representante dos movementos de base dentro do marco institucional da UE.

Rackete é membro de pleno dereito do Comité de Medio Ambiente, Clima e Seguridade Alimentaria (ENVI), onde participa na elaboración das políticas ambientais e climáticas da UE. Ademais, forma parte da Delegación para as Relacións cos Países do Sur de Asia (DSAS), participando en discusións diplomáticas e de desenvolvemento coas nacións do Sur de Asia. Tamén é membro suplente na Comisión de Asuntos Económicos e Monetarios (ECON) e na Comisión de Agricultura e Desenvolvemento Rural (AGRI), así como na Delegación de Relacións con Sudáfrica (D-ZA).

O enfoque lexislativo de Rackete inclúe a defensa da socialización das redes enerxéticas, unha eliminación gradual nuclear en toda a UE e un calendario definitivo para a eliminación dos combustibles fósiles. Ela expresou o seu compromiso coa xustiza social e a preservación ecolóxica, co obxectivo de integrar estes principios na elaboración das políticas da UE.

Ademais das súas funcións parlamentarias, Carola estivo involucrándose activamente coa sociedade civil a través da súa xira "Seeds of Action", na que visitou Sudamérica, Europa e África para reunirse con colectivos do movemento ambiental e de xustiza social, así como presos políticos, e colaborar con eles.

Recentemente, Carola expresou a súa solidariedade co pobo palestino, afirmando: "Israel debe deter o xenocidio en Gaza. Israel rachou o alto o fogo. Nin os gobernos europeos nin ninguén que viva na UE debería apoiar que o goberno israelí cometa innumerables crimes de guerra contra palestinos en Gaza, Cisxordania ou O Líbano. Por suposto, as persoas secuestradas por Hamás deberían ser liberadas e a mellor oportunidade de facelo sería mediante unha negociación, que é o que demandan as súas familias e moitos manifestantes dentro de Israel."

Nos últimos días, dirixiuse a Malta para apoiar a tripulación do buque de axuda humanitaria "Conscience", que foi atacado con drons. O barco transportaba alimentos e axuda médica de urxencia, algo que Israel leva dous meses impedindo que entre en Gaza. É preciso que o buque e a súa tripulación estean a salvo, se realice unha investigación e se lles axude a chegar a Gaza. Pero en lugar de trasladar o barco a porto e levar a cabo unha investigación razoable, Malta bloqueou ata agora o acceso ao barco sen alegar razóns legais, e quere que o buque se arranxe no mar e librarse do problema.

Texto publicado orixinalmente: 08/08/2019

Texto actualizado: 08/05/2025

Carola Rackete was born on May 8, 1988 in Preetz (Germany) and studied at Maritime School at Jade University of Applied Sciences in Elsfleth, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Nautical Science and Maritime Transport in 2011. In 2018 she obtained a master's degree in Conservation Management from Edge Hill University in England. She speaks five languages.

She has traveled extensively throughout the world in her life, often alone. Before and after graduation, she gained experience as a navigation officer, including two years aboard the German polar icebreaker "Polarstern", steering the ship on scientific expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic, for the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Upon reaching the North Pole, she witnessed for the first time the rapid warming of the Arctic. Through many conversations with scientists working in the area, she understood that scientific data alone will not motivate political action on the climate crisis, and that pressure from civil society is essential.

As part of a European volunteer programme, in 2014 she worked for eight months as a conservation volunteer in the Bystrinsky Nature Park, in the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the East of Siberia.  Afterwards, she worked for four months as a security officer for Silversea Cruises, an ultra-luxury cruise line based in Monaco. 

Because she wanted to do something that had a political impact, in 2015 she worked for seven months as a second officer on the ship "Arctic Sunrise" owned by Greenpeace .

Between 2016 and 2017, she also worked on British Antarctic Survey ships as a deck officer, while studying for her Masters in Conservation Management.

In 2018 she joined the resistance against the eviction of the Hambach Forest occupation, near the Hambach coal mine, and later she participated in Extinction Rebellion's first bridge occupations in London. Later, she embarked on a train journey to conduct a socio-ecological study that lasted four months, interviewing people who work in nature conservation in China, in polar and post-Soviet areas, about their work and how they transform pain and anxiety into action.

Between 2016 and 2019 she did occasional volunteer work for maritime rescue NGOs in the Central Mediterranean. From June 2019, Rackete began captaining the "Sea-Watch 3", a Dutch-flagged ship of 645 tonnes.

On June 12, Sea Watch 3 collected 53 refugees off the coast of Libya. The ship refused an offer to dock at Tripoli, as it is considered a dangerous port, and headed for Lampedusa, the nearest safe harbour. On June 14, Italy closed its ports for refugee rescue ships, as Matteo Salvini didn't want to let the ship dock until other European nations agreed to take in the refugees. Eleven people were allowed to disembark, including children, pregnant women and sick people.

For seventeen days, the ship remained isolated, constantly sending out messages for help, as the vessel was not designed or prepared to subsist with so many people, and they desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Two passengers had to be evacuated by emergency medical services. During this time, no government offered to take in the refugees, nor did any organism decide to intervene, despite numerous requests to resolve the blockade situation that were sent from the ship.

On June 29, Carola decided to dock at the port of Lampedusa disobeying orders from the Italian military, as the situation became unsustainable and dangerous to the physical integrity of those on board, as passengers threatened to throw themselves into the water if no solution came. She was fulfilling her obligation under international maritime law to bring persons rescued at sea to a safe port, but the Italian police immediately arrested Carola while a far-right group shouted racist insults. She was inexplicably charged with "resistance or violence against a warship", a crime involving a sentence of three to ten years in prison, in addition to having to pay more than 300,000 euros in fines. Salvini, the main promoter of her arrest, intended to implement an "exemplary" xenophobic policy of criminalizing all organizations and solidary people trying to rescue refugees from death in the Mediterranean, and consolidate himself as the leading figure of the far right in Europe.

Carola was under house arrest for three days, until Judge Alessandra Vella ruled that Carola had fulfilled her duty to protect human life, and that she had not committed any act of violence. The Italian Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that her decision had been justified and that she should never have been arrested.

Throughout the incident, Carola ignored the threats and constant criticism and personal insults constantly launched through social and news media by Salvini. "To be honest I haven’t read the comments, I really don’t have time. I have 40 people to take care of ... Mister Salvini might just get in line."

After 2019, Carola continued to get involved in various forms of activism. For example, she worked as a Watch-Keeping Officer for Greenpeace on an ocean campaign in Antarctica, and later on a Bob Brown Foundation campaign to stop Davis Airport in Antarctica. In addition, in 2022 she was a field assistant for the Climate Impact Research Council in Sweden, and in 2023 for the University of Hamburg in Antarctica.

Despite being a person closely linked to social and environmental justice movements, and not to state institutions, in July 2023, Carola announced that she would run as an independent candidate for the European Parliament on the list of the German Left Party, in the June 2024 elections, and was elected.

She stated that the situation is urgent: fascism is rising in Europe; people seeking refuge are losing their rights; fossil fuel corporations make outrageous profits while people suffer from the cost of living crisis; and we all suffer the consequences of the worsening climate crisis. She believes that at this time, movements fighting for justice cannot afford to ignore state institutions and need representation in them. Social injustice and ecological damage will spiral out of control unless civil society forces governments to take drastic action.

Carola argues that the corporations that caused the climate crisis must be held accountable, be socialized, and their money must be used to finance a just transition. We must cancel the debt of the Global South, share access to technology, and provide security for refugees. Tax evasion and corporate green-washing must be avoided, and we must fight for egalitarian power structures, transparency and democracy.

Since her election to Parliament, Carola has actively pursued her agenda focused on climate justice, ecological preservation and social equity, and positioned herself as a representative of grassroots movements within the EU institutional framework.

Rackete serves as a full member of the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI), where she is involved in shaping EU environmental and climate policies. Additionally, she is part of the Delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia (DSAS), engaging in diplomatic and developmental discussions with South Asian nations. She also holds substitute memberships in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), as well as in the Delegation for relations with South Africa (D-ZA).

Rackete's legislative focus includes advocating for the socialisation of energy networks, a EU-wide nuclear phase-out, and a definitive timeline for the phase-out of fossil fuels. She has expressed a commitment to social justice and ecological preservation, aiming to integrate these principles into EU policy-making. 

In addition to her parliamentary duties, Carola has been actively involved with civil society through her "Seeds of Action" tour, in which she visited South America, Europe and Africa to meet with and collaborate with groups from the environmental and social justice movement, as well as political prisoners.

Recently, Carola expressed her solidarity with the Palestinian people, stating: "Israel must stop the genocide in Gaza. Israel has broken the ceasefire. Neither European governments nor anyone living in the EU should support the Israeli government committing countless war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, the West bank, or in Libanon. Of course, the people kidnapped by Hamas should be freed and the best chance to do so would be by negotiation, which is what their families and many protesters within Israel demand."

In recent days, she has been to Malta to support the crew of the humanitarian aid ship "Conscience", which was attacked with drones. The ship was carrying food and emergency medical aid, something that Israel has been preventing from entering Gaza for two months. The ship and its crew must be safe, an investigation must be carried out and they must be helped to reach Gaza. But instead of taking the ship to port and carrying out a reasonable investigation, Malta has so far blocked access to the ship without citing legal reasons, and wants the ship to be repaired at sea and get rid of the problem.

    Text originally published: 08/05/2025 

Updated text: 08/05/2025