A few days before a possible eviction of the village of Lützerath for coal mining, climate activists want to inform today about their planned protest actions. The “Lützerath unräumbar” alliance wants to introduce itself, to which organizations and initiatives such as Ende Gelände, Fridays for Future, Alle Dorfen Stay and Last Generation have joined forces.
“Public action training for the planned actions of civil disobedience” is also planned. Afterwards there will be a so-called village walk. The Cologne band AnnenMayKantereit wants to play a concert in the occupied place. “Lützerath has to stay. That’s why we make music there on Sunday” wrote singer Henning May on Instagram.
The climate activist Luisa Neubauer is also expected to take part in the “village walk” – Lützerath consists of only a few former farmsteads and houses. She called on supporters to come too. “In Lützerath the limit of carrying on like this has been reached,” said Neubauer of the German Press Agency. “Politicians don’t yet dare to recognize this, but civil society does.” The coal has to stay in the ground. “We have been experiencing the effects of climate change for years. In the summer of 2022, the most serious forest fires raged across Europe. The destruction, which has been fueled by German politics and business so far, must stop.”
Numerous activists traveled to Lützerath again on Saturday. Shuttle buses brought them to the rough terrain from nearby train stations. Several new tents were set up in a camp in a field in the neighboring district of Keyenberg.
Climate expert sees “break with the Paris climate goals”
In the social networks, initiatives called with the hashtag, among other things
Greenpeace climate expert Karsten Smid told the dpa that in Lützerath it would be decided whether the traffic light government was serious about climate protection. “Burning the coal under Lützerath means breaking with the Paris climate goals. We no longer need the coal under the village and simply cannot afford to continue burning this most climate-damaging of all energy sources.” RWE’s interest in profit should not take precedence over the common good, protecting the planet and preserving the basis of life.
The energy company RWE wants to tear down Lützerath in the Rhineland in order to mine the coal underneath. This is necessary to ensure the energy supply, says the group. The opencast mine is already close to the remaining buildings. Activists living in the abandoned hamlet have announced resistance, but the black-green NRW state government wants the police to evacuate the village – possibly in a few days. The preparations for this are already underway. The state government points out that in return the phase-out of coal has been brought forward by eight years to 2030.
