Germany’s dirty coalmines become the focus for a new wave of direct action

A giant black mark on Germany’s environmental record is scarred on the land an hour’s drive from the venue of this year’s UN climate talks in Bonn. Stretching across 85 square km and around 370 metres deep, the opencast coalmine near Hambach forest is the biggest hole in Europe and one of the biggest single sources of carbon on the continent. It it also a frontline for a growing band of environmental defenders who – believing it is better to break the law than the climate – are engaged in direct action campaigns against the fossil fuel industry. On Sunday, several thousand people occupied the RWE-run mine and surrounded the 10-storey high excavators before being ejected by police. Dozens of others have built treehouse camps in the neighbouring forest in an effort to prevent the lignite mine expanding any further. According to the Environmental Justice Map, this is one of 70 “Blockadia” campaigns worldwide – including efforts to halt the Dakota access pipeline in the US, block coal shipments from Rotterdam and stifle coal production in Kenya – as climate activists take matters into their own hands due to frustration with the slow pace of progress by governments. One hundred… Read full this story

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