Climate activists placed two banners today in front of the European Parliament building in Brussels, calling for an end to fossil fuels, on the eve of EU leaders meeting to discuss energy prices.
On the banners in question, placed on Solidarity Square, in front of the European Parliament (EP), read “Wars, poverty and the climate crisis: burning gas robs us of the future” and “burning gas destroys the European Union (EU)”.
In a statement, Greenpeace says that these banners are part of a protest action that included Extinction Rebellion Belgium activists entering the EP building, where they unfurled another banner with the message “gas kills”.
In Luxembourg Square, a few metres from the EP, other activists from Extinction Rebellion and Red Rebels organized a “symbolic staging”, in which, dressed in red and with faces painted white, they displayed images of floods, deforestation and fires, to “symbolize the loss and destruction caused by fossil fuels”.
The action was promoted by the coalition “People vs Gas” (“People against gas”), which brings together several climate organizations, with the aim of asking EU leaders, on the eve of their meeting for a summit in Brussels, to “accelerate the transition to an energy system fully based on renewable energy”.
“Greenpeace and the People vs Gas coalition warn that continued dependence on fossil fuels, beyond destroying the environment, will worsen the cost-of-living crisis, since studies indicate that oil and gas prices are the main causes of inflation,” they warn.
According to Greenpeace Belgium, the rise in energy prices has driven up household costs by more than €61.5 billion between March and August, compared with the same period in 2021.
The organization says that this increase represents, “on average, an additional cost of 50 euros per month per household in the EU”.
“The coalition demands a short-term emergency plan to protect the population from the rise in energy costs, as well as a clear roadmap to progressively eliminate fossil gas in Europe by 2035,” they say.
EU leaders meet Thursday and Friday in Brussels for a summit where they will discuss responses to the rising cost of living and attempt to agree on “the core elements” of the next EU budget.
In the invitation letter addressed to the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU), European Council President António Costa states that the summit will have a “strong focus on the economy” and the need to find responses to the rising cost of living.
“We need to give guidance to the Commission on specific and temporary measures intended to mitigate the impact of high energy prices on our citizens and businesses, while continuing, at the same time, our strategy to reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels,” Costa says.
