Greta Thunberg to join Extinction Rebellion highway blockade in The Hague this weekend

Greta Thunberg will attend an Extinction Rebellion highway blockade on the A12 in The Hague on Saturday, the climate protest organization said. During that demonstration against fossil subsidies, the climate activists will announce new international actions against governments making it cheap and easy for large businesses to use fossil fuels on a large scale by giving them tax breaks and discounts on excise duties.

Extinction Rebellion has been protesting against fossil subsidies in the Netherlands for some time. Saturday will be the organization’s 37th blockade of the A12 highway, also called the Utrechtseweg. The protests typically end with the police arresting hundreds of demonstrators.

“The A12 blockades have ensured that the injustice of fossil subsidies is clear to everyone,” Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Joost Thus said. “The success of the A12 blockades has set in motion an international movement.” This week, there are protests against fossil subsidies in six European countries. During the A12 blockade on Saturday, Extinction Rebellion will announce “how we will increase the international pressure on politics and the fossil industry in the near future.”

With “fossil subsidies,” Extinction Rebellion means tax breaks and subsidies that make the large-scale use of fossil fuels cheaper for large companies like Shell, Tata Steel, and KLM. In September, calculations by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate showed that the Dutch government loses out on between 39.7 to 46.4 billion euros in income every year due to schemes that favor using fossil fuels. Another study by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in November showed that 72 percent of Netherlands residents favor abolishing subsidies and tax breaks for the aviation sector and all companies that are highly dependent on fossil fuels.

In February, the outgoing Rutte IV Cabinet presented a phase-out plan for fossil subsidies. Extinction Rebellion pointed out that the Netherlands won’t abolish these subsidies until 2030 or even 2035. “That goes directly against the international agreements that the Netherlands made at the G20 in 2009 to phase out fossil subsidies before 2020,” the organization said. “In this way, the use of energy sources whose emissions drive the climate and ecological crisis is supported and stimulated. While this crisis endangers the lives of millions of people, animals, and ecosystems.”