Climate activists block A12 in The Hague for eighth day in a row

Several hundred climate activists are blocking the A12 highway in The Hague on Saturday for the eighth day in a row. They are protesting against government measures that support the fossil fuel industry. The Police used water cannons after some time.

The Dutch state vs peaceful protesters.

To defend policies of which even Minister @RobJetten admits cannot be defended.

We will keep coming back. Every day 12:00 pm #A12#StopFossilFuelSubsidies #ClimateJustice #RightToProtest https://t.co/bXdr33LBnI

— Extinction Rebellion Nederland (@NLRebellion) September 16, 2023

The blockade began around noon when hundreds of protesters ran onto the A12 and held up traffic. The activists sat on the road, arms intertwined. The Police warned the Extinction Rebellion activists several times that a water cannon would be used if the activists did not leave. The first protesters were removed from the highway and put on buses.

Bezorgde burgers worden afgevoerd om de weg vrij te maken voor de fossiele industrie #a12blokkade pic.twitter.com/c2LUNi9l29

— Francisco van Jole ???? (@2525) September 16, 2023

The municipality of The Hague also said that demonstrating on the Utrechtsebaan was not allowed. “Demonstrating can be done on the avenue of Reagan and Gorbachev,” the municipality announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.

However, the Extinction Rebellion activists have changed their strategy, announcing that they will no longer cooperate with arrests. This means, for example, that the climate activists will “link their arms, remain limp, not enter the arrest bus themselves, and also block the doors of the bus or the bus itself.” However, the group stressed in its press release that this behavior will continue to be carried out peacefully.

XR spokesperson Lucas Winnips claimed in a press statement that the climate action group is “not asking for police involvement. That is a political choice. It is now clear that Extinction Rebellion will continue as long as necessary and that we are expanding. I would like to ask the police not to intervene in our peaceful demonstration anymore because that is pointless. We will come back the next day.”

On Friday, it was revealed that more subsidies and tax breaks are flowing to the fossil fuel sector than assumed. According to a calculation by the Ministry of Economy and Climate, it is between 39.7 and 46.4 billion euros annually.