A22 Network is a project associated with the Climate Emergency Fund that consists of projects that organize environmentalist activists to volunteer for protests at which they block roadways and deface high-profile artworks to call attention demand eliminating carbon emissions. ¹

A May 2023 report alleged that Climate Emergency Fund has received millions of dollars from high profile left-of-center donors and is the “primary funder” of A22 Network. A representative from Declare Emergency, A22 Network’s United States-based project, stated that it has not received any of the funding coming from Climate Emergency Fund. ²

Background

A22 Network was founded in 2022 as a project of Climate Emergency Fund, an environmentalist organization. It consists of projects across 11 countries that engage in high-profile protests to spread alarmist messaging about carbon emissions. ^{3 4}

Climate Emergency Fund’s website states that A22 Network is organized by eight individuals who engage in mass recruitment of activists to participate in “campaigns of civil disobedience.” ⁵ A22 Network is best known for protests that stop traffic in major cities and that deface or appear to deface high-end artwork. ⁶

In April 2022, A22 Network released a “Declaration on the Crisis,” expressing demands for environmentalist policies and using alarmist language. It claims that its activists are the “Last Generation,” alluding to the idea that global warming will destroy civilization without extreme social and economic change. The group also argues, “This world is being decimated before our eyes.”  The declaration concludes by stating the goal of A22’s protests is to “slash” carbon emissions. ⁷

Activities

In November 2022, members of A22 Network based in Paris, Milan, and Oslo held protests where they defaced famous artwork with paint and flour at the same time the United Nations held a meeting in Egypt regarding climate change policies. Andy Warhol’s 1979 painted BMW at the Fabbrica Del Vapore art center in Milan, Charles Ray’s stainless-steel sculpture Horse and Rider at the Pinault Collection Museum in Paris, and Monolith by Gustave Vigeland and surrounding sculptures in Oslo’s Vigeland Sculpture Park were among the pieces that were defaced to bring attention to A22 Network’s demands for eliminating carbon emissions. ⁸

Members

Declare Emergency is A22 Network’s American-based project and Just Stop Oil is its United Kingdom-based project. It also has member projects in Sweden, France, Central Europe, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and Norway. ⁹

A22 Network’s Letzte Generation of Deutschland recruits volunteers to engage in protests, blockades, and “something wild.” It advocates for lowering speed limits to reduce carbon emissions on roadways as well as fixing the price of train tickets due to rising living costs. ¹⁰

Funding

A22 Network and Climate Emergency Fund’s website states that it is primarily funded by Climate Emergency Fund. A22 Network’s website also states that it has raised over 13,000 Euros as of June 2023, with a goal of raising 25,000 Euros. ^{11 12}

A May 2023 report by the Washington Examiner revealed donors to Climate Emergency Fund includes Rory Kennedy, daughter of former U.S. Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY); Aileen Getty, the billionaire philanthropist as an heiress of the petroleum industry’s Getty family; and Adam McKay, director of the 2021 climate allegory film Don’t Look Up, who had announced in September 2022 that he would be giving Climate Emergency Fund $4 million. Other donations came from Democratic megadonor and Democracy Alliance founding member Susie Tompkin Buell’s private foundation and the Marin Community Foundation. ¹³

A representative of A22 Network’s Declare Emergency told the Examiner that Declare Emergency does not receive the funding that comes from Climate Emergency Fund and that it must be spent elsewhere by A22 Network. ¹⁴

1. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Hollywood and Left-Wing Foundations behind Climate Charity Quietly Bankrolling Extremist Protest Groups.” Washington Examiner, May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/climate-emergency-fund-extremist-protest-groups-hollywood-biden.
2. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Hollywood and Left-Wing Foundations behind Climate Charity Quietly Bankrolling Extremist Protest Groups.” Washington Examiner, May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/climate-emergency-fund-extremist-protest-groups-hollywood-biden.
3. A22 Network. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://a22network.org/en/.
4. “The A22 Network.” Climate Emergency Fund. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/a22.
5. “The A22 Network.” Climate Emergency Fund. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/a22.
6. Lauter, Devorah. “As U.N. Climate Talks Continued in Egypt, Protesters Simultaneously Targeted Sculptures in Three European Cities.” ARTnews.com, November 19, 2022. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/simultaneous-climate-protests-charles-ray-bourse-de-commerce-1234647298/.
7. A22 Network. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://a22network.org/en/.
8. Lauter, Devorah. “As U.N. Climate Talks Continued in Egypt, Protesters Simultaneously Targeted Sculptures in Three European Cities.” ARTnews.com, November 19, 2022. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/simultaneous-climate-protests-charles-ray-bourse-de-commerce-1234647298/.
9. A22 Network. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://a22network.org/en/.
10. “Mitmachen.” Letzte Generation. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://letztegeneration.org/mitmachen/.
11. A22 Network. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://a22network.org/en/.
12. “The A22 Network.” Climate Emergency Fund. Accessed June 23, 2023. https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/a22.
13. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Hollywood and Left-Wing Foundations behind Climate Charity Quietly Bankrolling Extremist Protest Groups.” Washington Examiner, May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/climate-emergency-fund-extremist-protest-groups-hollywood-biden.
14. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Hollywood and Left-Wing Foundations behind Climate Charity Quietly Bankrolling Extremist Protest Groups.” Washington Examiner, May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/climate-emergency-fund-extremist-protest-groups-hollywood-biden.