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Climate activists to occupy coal mine in Germany


Bangladeshpost
Published : 30 Nov 2019 06:17 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 08:12 AM

Campaigners were preparing to occupy a vast opencast coal mine in eastern Germany on Saturday to put pressure on the government to phase out the fossil fuel — a divisive issue in the country’s rust belt, reports BSS.

The Spremberg mine is in the Lausitz basin — where thousands of jobs depend on coal but where residents are also opposed to a planned expansion of mining.

The mine produces 22 million tonnes a year of lignite, a low-grade type of brown coal that is also considered the most harmful to human health and the environment.

‘Despite all the nice speeches and promises, 2019 was another lost year for the climate,’ said Nike Malhaus, spokeswoman for the anti-coal group Ende Gelaende which is organising the protest action.

The occupation is being supported by other environmental groups, including the German branch of Fridays for future which is organising its own protest on Saturday in front of a nearby power station.

It will be the second time this year that Ende Gelaende has occupied a coal mine. In June, several hundred climate activists carrying sleeping bags blocked the vast Garzweiler lignite mine near Cologne for several days.

Campaigners say the government’s plans to phase out coal by 2038 announced this year do not go far enough.

They want that date brought forward for Germany to meet its international commitments to slash carbon pollution.

LEAG has also faced strong opposition to its plans to expand lignite mining in the region, which would result in the resettlement of two villages.

Germany’s decision in 2011 to abandon nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster in Japan has made the country more dependent on coal as renewables struggle to fill the gap.