Thousands of young people occupy coal mines in Aachen, Germany
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
Young people from across Europe gathered in Aachen, Germany, for a new climate strike and to protest against coal extraction.
Thousands of young people occupy coal mines in Aachen, Germany
Young people from across Europe gathered in Aachen, Germany, for a new climate strike and to protest against coal extraction.
They have come from all over Europe and they number in the thousands — young people who gathered on the morning of Friday 21 June in Aachen (Aquisgrana), a town in Germany located on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands. Their goal: to take part in a new climate strike.
Six thousand young people gather in Aachen, Germany
The reason for choosing this town is tied to the fact that it is home to one of Europe's main sources of CO2 emissions. Around Aachen, there are indeed numerous mines operated by the fossil fuel giant Rwe.
This is an act of "civil disobedience" aimed at underscoring once again how continuing to exploit coal as an energy production source represents a policy entirely incompatible with the climate objectives set out by the Paris Agreement.
Dans une rare convergence, le jeune mouvement Fridays for Future attend de son côté 20.000 collégiens, lycéens et étudiants pour une "manifestation européenne" vendredi, dans la ville toute proche d'Aix-la-Chapelle #AFP
👉 u.afp.com/JWBX
👉 u.afp.com/JWBX
To that end, the young people have been encamped on site for several days now. With tents, sleeping mats and hammocks. And they now number a full six thousand: "Lignite is the dirtiest fossil fuel. We have to stop extracting it, and that is why we are prepared to use our bodies to block these diabolical activities," Tadzio Müller, one of the leaders of the German movement Ende Gelände, explained to AFP.
Tomorrow the protests will focus on the Garzweiler coal mine
Tomorrow, the protests will move to the open-cast mine at Garzweiler, not far from Cologne. Precisely because of coal, the German government will not meet its own targets for reducing climate-altering emissions set for 2020. And although it has scheduled the phase-out of this fossil fuel by 2038, the road ahead looks steep, given that coal still accounts for 40 per cent of national electricity consumption.