Carola Rackete

Carola Rackete, born in 1988, studied Nautical Science at the University of Maritime Studies in Elsfleth (Germany). After graduating in 2011, she worked on board the German polar research icebreaker Polarstern and had her first encounter with the rapidly warming Arctic. Her experiences made her realise that political action is crucial when it comes to nature conservation and climate justice. In 2018, she completed her master's degree in Conservation Management while working as a deck officer on British Antarctic Survey ships. Rackete then campaigned against the eviction of the Hambach Forest occupation and joined Extinction Rebellion for their first bridge occupation in London. Between 2016 and 2019, she occasionally volunteered for sea rescue NGOs in the Central Mediterranean. As captain of the Sea-Watch 3, she was arrested in 2019 (and released three days later) for docking in a harbour without permission and rescuing 42 people, which attracted international attention. The Italian Supreme Court ruled in January 2020 that Carola Rackete should not have been arrested and all investigations were subsequently dropped. In 2024, she is running for the European Parliament as the lead candidate for Die Linke. Her priorities are climate justice, nature conservation and agriculture. She is not a party member and wants to network and support movements that are fighting for a better future. She is currently supporting Wir fahren zusammen, a campaign by Fridays For Future and Ver.di, and spoke at protests against Tesla's Giga Factory and Elon Musk in Grünheide, Germany.