Climate activists arrested as police break up protest in Amsterdam city hall

The police ended an Extinction Rebellion protest in Amsterdam city hall on Thursday evening. The authorities asked the climate activists to leave just after 9:00 p.m. About an hour later, the police cleared the hall.

Some of the activists left on their own accord; others did not. The police arrested at least five protesters.

Extinction Rebellion protested for an immediate halt to coal transport via the port of Amsterdam, of which the municipality is the full shareholder. Earlier on Thursday, the activists disrupted a committee meeting at city hall. They later attached themselves to bicycles in the lobby of the building. They intended to stay in the hall until late Thursday evening.

Mayor Femke Halsema and alderman Hester van Buren (airport and seaport) went to talk to the activists. The alderman agreed “that we need to get rid of coal transports as soon as possible,” she said. “That is our commitment and that of the port authority.”

Extinction Rebellion has been campaigning to stop coal transports for some time. In July last year, the group blocked the track to a coal transfer in the port of Amsterdam. Other climate action groups have also taken action in the port area. In 2017, for example, Code Rood installed a climate camp in the Westeljk Havengebied. Last month, activists from Kappen met Kolen and Christian Climate Action blocked a coal transport in the port.

At the end of 2020, the Amsterdam city council drew up a vision for the future and sustainability of the Amsterdam port. The Port Authority must become coal-free by 2030. Also, it can no longer use liquid fossil fuels from 2050. But as long as no sufficient alternatives are available, these fuels will continue to play a role, the municipality said. “The existing oil terminals are investing further in sustainability and the cleanest possible transshipment of oil by means of new techniques.”

The port in the capital employs some 35,000 people and covers more than 1,600 hectares. The joint ports of Amsterdam, Zaanstad, Beverwijk, and Velsen/IJmuiden are counted among the fourth largest ports in Europe.