Some 6,000 demonstrators, including Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, gathered in western Germany to protest the clearance of a village to make way for a controversial coal mine expansion.
In Kinberg, protesters marched near the ruined village of Lutzerat, chanting “Every village remains” and “You are not alone”. Police said some activists tried to break through the barriers around the Garzweiler coal mine and the group entered the mine.
Thunberg told protesters, “This is a betrayal of present and future generations…Germany is one of the biggest polluters in the world and must be held accountable.” She then joined the march with a cardboard sign that read “Stays Luetzi” in German, using the abbreviated name of the village.
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As protesters approached Lutzrath they were confronted by police, some using batons to push them back. Police said they had to use force to prevent some people from approaching the danger zone at the edge of the excavation area.
Protesters occupied Luetzerath until a massive police operation to evict them began this week following a court ruling allowing the mine to expand.
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On Wednesday morning, more than 1,000 riot officers began removing barricades that protesters had been preparing for weeks, and on Thursday police cleared one of the main buildings in the village as bulldozers moved quickly to bring down the trees and remove debris. .
Police say around 470 people left the site in the first three days of the operation, 320 of them voluntarily. On Friday afternoon, they said there were no more activists on the rooftops of the remaining buildings.
German news agency dpa reported on Saturday that there are 15 “structures” such as treehouses that have yet to be considered, as well as a tunnel where two people are believed to still be hiding.
The area around the village in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia is rich in lignite, a lower-grade version of fuel that is particularly polluting because more of it has to be burned to produce power units. Lignite is responsible for about a fifth of Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Luetzerath has become a thorn in the side of the German government’s climate efforts, with the Green Party as a coalition partner. Activists say mine expansion will lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, and government stresses need to ensure Germany’s energy security, especially in the face of a Russian invasion of Ukraine .
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