NEWS CENTER – Ende Gelände has ended its campaign week for climate justice and against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure. From August 9th to 14th, 2022, the Alliance for Climate Justice drew attention to the connection between the climate crisis and colonial economic structures with actions of civil disobedience.
Already on Thursday, a group of climate activists blocked the access gate of the artificial fertilizer manufacturer Yara in Brunsbüttel, Schleswig-Holstein, one of the major gas consumers in Germany. Freitag followed this up and occupied the construction site for the planned liquid gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony. The high point of the action week was the blockades in Hamburg on Saturday. Around 2000 activists blocked central rail and road connections in the port of Hamburg, an important transhipment point for oil and coal.
Luka Scott, spokeswoman for Ende Gelände: “We have shown this week that the climate justice movement has full power. Anyone still investing in fossil fuel infrastructure in 2022 must reckon with our resistance. We stand close together against fossil capitalism and colonial exploitation. With us there is no fossil rollback.”
The traffic light government has decided to build twelve liquid gas terminals and have them operated by energy companies until 2043. Due to its methane content, fossil gas accelerates global warming more than CO2. It has also been decided to restart coal-fired power plants that have already been shut down. The traffic light justifies this with the need to become independent of Russian gas.
Charly Dietz, also spokeswoman for Ende Gelände: “The construction of new gas infrastructure is a gift to the fossil industry. The big energy companies are profiteers from the crisis. They have multiplied their profits, while in the coming winter many people will not know how to pay their electricity and gas bills. We are not in an energy crisis, but in a capitalist distribution crisis. Subsidizing the gas industry with billions instead of protecting consumers from energy poverty is a scandal and a declaration of war on everyone who is fighting for climate justice.”
International activists from the Global South also took part in the campaign. According to the Climate Justice Alliance, the blockades in the port of Hamburg should draw attention to the connection between the fossil fuel industry in Germany and colonial exploitation in the Global South. With its large camps and mass civil disobedience, Ende Gelände has become a key player in discussions and actions on the phase-out of coal and gas, the climate crisis and climate justice.
Thousands joined the actions
On 13 August. 2022. Since noon today (Saturday, August 13), more than a thousand climate activists have been blocking several sections of track and access roads in the Port of Hamburg. All groups from Ende Gelände have achieved their goal of action and have blocked freight traffic in the entire port area. They are protesting against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and colonial supply chains.
Charly Dietz, spokeswoman for Ende Gelände: “The climate crisis is getting worse and worse. But instead of finally getting out of gas, the German coast is to be paved over with liquid gas terminals. Ironically, the big climate killer companies receive billions in subsidies, while rising prices and fossil fuel inflation are becoming a risk of poverty for many people. This shows quite clearly that we are not in an energy crisis, but in a capitalist distribution crisis. With our blockades in the port of Hamburg, we are successfully resisting the power of the corporations and are committed to climate justice.”
The police had tried to stop the activists with a large contingent. They used batons, pepper spray and water cannons. A group of activists has been denied access to drinking water for hours. Paramedics and the press are also not allowed through to the group. Parliamentary observers are on site.
Luka Scott, also spokeswoman for Ende Gelände, adds: “What we are witnessing here is a large-scale attack by the Hamburg police on democracy and freedom of assembly. The interior authorities had already tried to prevent our protest camp in advance and failed twice in court. Now we are experiencing a new peak of police violence and arbitrariness against our climate protests. The state organs are once again making themselves the henchmen of the fossil fuel industry. We will not be intimidated and will continue our protest.”
In addition to Ende Gelände, other groups also took part in the day of action. The central Kohlbrandbrücke near the port of Hamburg was also blocked by climate activists.
On August 12, 2022. The Ende Gelände action alliance is continuing its actions of civil disobedience against the planned expansion of fossil gas infrastructure in northern Germany. Hundreds of activists achieved their goal of action this morning and occupied the construction site for a planned liquid gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven. Yesterday, a group of activists blocked the main gate of the fertilizer manufacturer Yara in Brunsbüttel, a major gas consumer at the planned liquefied gas terminal in Brunsbüttel.Luka Scott, spokeswoman for Ende, explains: “The climate crisis is getting worse and worse. But instead of finally getting out of fossil fuels, billions are to be invested in new liquid gas terminals and gas imports are to be fixed until 2043. We will resolutely oppose this fossil rollback and prevent the construction of LNG terminals.”
Charly Dietz, also spokeswoman for Ende Gelände, adds: “Gas is a climate killer. No matter where it comes from, the extraction of fossil gas is associated with displacement, exploitation and destruction. European corporations make billions in profits through colonial exploitation. We are opposing this climate crime and are taking the gas phase-out into our own hands.”
The federal government is planning to build around a dozen new LNG terminals for importing liquefied gas in response to Russia’s war of aggression and the search for alternatives to Russian gas. A month ago, construction of a floating landing and storage platform for liquid gas began in Wilhelmshaven. With the protests, in which international activists are also taking part, the alliance wants to scandalize the associated neocolonial structures.
Esteban Servat, a climate activist from Argentina, reports: “Germany’s largest gas and oil producer Wintershall DEA has been operating fracking plants in Argentina for years, where the extraction of fossil gas poisons rivers, destroys habitats and violates human rights. It is time to connect the struggles in the Global South with the struggles in Germany and act together against the destruction of our planet by multinational corporations.”
