Climate activists from the Dutch branch of Extinction Rebellion blocked traffic at the main entry and exit point for the city of The Hague.
ADVERTISEMENTExtinction Rebellion climate activists blocked a main road in the Dutch city of The Hague on Saturday.
Authorities banned the protest, and police set up screens and fences on the A12 highway to try to prevent protesters from reaching the road on foot.
However, several hundred protesters in smaller groups managed to reach the highway, and the blockade prevented city traffic from entering or leaving that part of the road.
Some protesters were detained, but police did not say how many. Water cannons were also deployed in an attempt to break up the protest.
In recent years, this part of the highway has been regularly blocked by the Dutch branch of the climate organization Extinction Rebellion. They are against the government’s plans to subsidize fossil fuels.
The new right-wing government is reintroducing subsidies that were previously abolished.
“It’s a long-term protest to stop fossil fuel subsidies. We have to keep protesting,” said one protester.
“Now you can see that the fires in Los Angeles and in many other places are disasters. We need to react much faster to the climate crisis,” she added.
Another protester said they were angry that the Dutch government “gives 47 billion euros every year to the most polluting business in the Netherlands.”
In 2023, the Dutch government announced that annual fossil subsidies amounted to between 39.7 and 46.4 billion euros.
