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Press release, 22 October 2019, 10:30am

Berlin, Germany, 22 October 2019. The international climate justice movement Ende Gelaende (“Here And No Further”) calls for a mass action of civil disobedience in the Lusatian lignite fields of Eastern Germany on 30 November 2019. Hundreds of activists from all over Europe will put their bodies on the line, to block lignite mines, train tracks, and power plants. To stop the climate crisis, Ende Gelaende calls for an immediate coal phase-out and a transition away from fossil fuels and growth-dependent capitalism.

“Millions of people have taken to the streets together with Fridays for Future, protesting for climate justice. But the government still ignores the urgency of the climate crisis and is about to pass a climate law that will lead us into a world which is 3 to 5 degrees hotter. We won’t let this happen. The climate justice movement is stronger than ever and we know what we have to do: we will take the protests one step further and shut down Germany’s dirty coal industry with our own bodies. Our future depends on it”, says Ende Gelaende spokeswoman Nike Mahlhaus.

Germany is still the world’s biggest producer of lignite, sourcing a total of 38% of the country’s energy supply from burning coal. In early 2019, the German Coal Commission proposed to continue using coal power until 2038. As studies show, this means Germany would miss its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement by more than a billion tons of CO2. The government has declared its intention to follow the commission’s proposal.

“Delaying the urgently needed coal phase-out until 2038 shows that the government prefers to pamper the fossil fuel industry rather than save our future. We need to stop using coal right now to avert the worst of the climate crisis”, Mahlhaus continues.

The mass action of civil disobedience will take place one day after the international Global Climate Strike led by Fridays For Future and few days before the Global Climate Summit COP25 in Chile. Hundreds of young people are expected to join the actions in the Lusatian coal fields. Ende Gelände’s first mass action of civil disobedience in Lusatia blocked the coal region for a whole weekend in 2016. In June of this year, 6,000 activists shut down the Rhineland coal fields in Western Germany.

Notes to editors:

You are welcome to report about our action, whether in the days before or directly from the site of action. We are happy to conduct interviews. It is also possible to accompany activists during the action.

On Friday, 29 November we will offer a public action training where you can take pictures and video footage, and invite you to an action briefing which is especially important for those journalists who wish to accompany activists into the action. We will inform you about the exact time and place for those events on short notice.

Nike Mahlhaus: +49 151 41374527

presse@ende-gelaende.org
www.ende-gelaende.org/en

Twitter: @Ende__Gelaende
Facebook: baggerstoppen
Instagram: ende__gelaende
Flickr: endegelaende

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTMJqVhikD2pNyMi841wjog