At the Garzweiler lignite mine in Germany hundreds of white dressed protesters blocked access and demanded the immediate ending of coal use.

Activist group Ende Gelände (End of the Line) that organised the protest, aimed to shut down Rhineland coal fields and the group has repeatedly blocked coal infrastructure in Germany in the last few years. Last autumn, 6,000 activists blocked the coal tracks of a mine near Hambach forest for 24 hours.

The Garzweiler operation is owned by RWE, an organisation that has already agreed on a deal with the German government, environmentalists and energy companies, allowing the industry to continue mining coal until 2038, and Germany has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050.

However, for the protesters, this not nearly soon enough.“We still have hopes, the door is still open to a future within the 1.5C limit. But we will miss this last chance if we don’t act immediately. Today we set out with thousands of people towards a future without fossil fuels, without exploitation and without this destructive quest for infinite economic growth.” states Sina Reisch, spokeswoman of Ende Gelände.

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