Brussels, 5 October, 2024
Today at 2pm in Brussels, around 400 demonstrators from all over Europe and the Global South organised a climate march that began in Place du Luxembourg, in front of the European Parliament, and ended in Merode, where the demonstrators held a People’s Assembly on Climate Justice. Meanwhile, at 2.30pm, 135 activists, including Greta Thunberg, blocked Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, by Rogier metro station, for two hours. The demonstrators, united under the flag of United for Climate Justice (UCJ), called for an EU-wide end to government support for the fossil fuel economy. 115 people, including Greta Thunberg, were arrested; in several instances, police used more force than warranted.
These demonstrations follow an open letter – co-signed by over 130 academics and prominent organisations including Oxfam, Greenpeace, ActionAid International, 350.org, Legambiente and Laudato Si Movement – that UCJ sent on October 1st to EU institutions. Fossil fuel subsidies, the letter highlights, “distort energy demand, perpetuate dependence on polluting energy sources, and undermine European energy security, while subsidising industries that contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.” They also directly contradict the EU’s own environmental targets and fuel the global climate crisis, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities in both Europe and the Global South. The signatories urge EU leaders to “walk the talk” and implement a pledge to eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies across the EU by 2025, in line with the Paris Agreement, as set down in the 8th Environmental Action Programme.
According to OECD data, explicit fossil subsidies in the EU amounted to over €171 billion in 2022. Despite pledges under the 8th Environmental Action Programme (2022) to eliminate harmful subsidies, the EU has made little to no progress. The signatories warn that without swift and decisive action, the EU will fall short of its climate goals for 2030 and 2050, with devastating consequences for ecosystems, economies, and human lives in Europe and abroad. A recent article estimates that at the current rate, one billion people will die worldwide this century as a result of climate change.
The People’s Assembly on Climate Justice in Merode gathered 20 people representing communities across Europe and the world to discuss how the climate crisis and fossil subsidies are affecting them, while hundreds assisted on the sides. The assembly started with a presentation by climate scientists on the role of fossil subsidies in driving climate change, and the urgency of stopping them now to keep us from passing irreversible tipping points. Discussions by the participants, which included activists Nicholas Omonuk from Uganda and François Kamate from DRC, focused on how the exploitative nature of the fossil economy fuels the militarisation and wars that displace and take the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. By organising these people’s assemblies, the activists aim to promote participatory democracy, and demand a binding citizens’ assembly to address the failures of our current political system, which has lost public trust.
Earlier on Friday climate activists attempted to deliver a petition to the EU delegation in Kampala, Uganda. The petition, demanding an end to fossil fuel subsidies, was not accepted and two activists were arrested and later released.
Dr. Angela Huston Gold, UCJ spokesperson: ‘Last month alone, 10,000 people in Europe were evacuated because of storm Boris, and recent floods in Africa took over 1,000 lives. Increasingly frequent and extreme natural disasters are likely to claim a billion victims by the end of the century, mainly due to the use of fossil fuels. To avoid ecological and social collapse, fossil fuel subsidies must end now.’
Paolo Destilo, UCJ spokesperson: ‘European leaders’ continued support for the fossil fuel industry raises serious questions about their commitment to effective climate action. Our politicians have failed us. That is why we call for the creation of binding citizens’ assemblies. Past participatory democracy initiatives show that citizens elected by lot and informed by scientists are far more capable of representing society’s interests than career politicians who think only of winning votes and protecting the interests of a minority of wealthy shareholders.’
Britney (they/them), XR Spain, on the People’s Assembly: ‘The people’s assembly showed how the people, the workers, the teachers, the refugees, the students, have the capacity and the necessity to directly intervene at the political level. Because if we don’t, the criminal alliance between governments and corporations will continue arming genocides and ecocides, leading us into a planetary collapse.’
Sophie Paul, Scientists for Extinction Rebellion UK, on the People’s Assembly: ‘Today’s assembly was a success in terms of being truly intersectional and international, to address our shared struggles. Bringing people’s voices to the forefront in an assembly format worked to centre the voices of the people affected, and is a model that can be used elsewhere.’
