XR Activists hold week-long climate march ahead of A12 blockade, no police intervention

Activists are starting a "climate march" from Arnhem to The Hague on Sunday. Over the next seven days, they will cover around 20 kilometers every day. On Saturday, September 14, they will arrive in the Zuid-Holland capital, where Extinction Rebellion plans to block the A12 highway again that day.

The police stated that they would not intervene as a protest for their early retirement scheme. However, the police unions previously announced that they would be present at the march to ensure the safety of participants and other road users. Officers "will stop working during the final blockade in The Hague," the police told Het Parool.

This is not the first time that Extinction Rebellion has held a climate march ahead of a blockade on the A12. Last year, the activists held a march similar to the one held in The Hague.

The climate action group says that the activists will remain on the highway until fossil subsidies are abolished. Without major police presence protesters will stay on the A12 as long as possible, XR announced. During previous actions, they also wanted to stay on the road but were always removed by the police.

With the A12 blockade, the climate activists are looking ahead to Budget Day. They want all tax benefits that promote the use of fossil fuels to be abolished by then. "While science is sounding the alarm, politics continues to support the fossil industry with billions. This money could be better used for things that increase, for example, the security of existence," XR said in a press release.