Small German town becomes latest front in battle for Paris Agreement
| Erkelenz, Germany
The fate of a tiny village has sparked heated debate in Germany over the country鈥檚 continued use of coal and whether tackling climate change justifies breaking the law.
Environmental activists have been locked in a standoff with police who started eviction operations on Wednesday in the hamlet of Luetzerath, west of Cologne, that鈥檚 due to be bulldozed for the expansion of a nearby lignite mine. Some stones and fireworks were thrown at officers in riot gear, who could be seen dismantling stalls set up by protesters.
Protesters refused Tuesday to heed a court ruling effectively banning them from the area. Some dug trenches, built barricades, and perched atop giant tripods in an effort to stop heavy machines from reaching the village, before police pushed them back by force.
鈥淧eople are putting all of their effort, all of their lives into this struggle to keep the coal in the ground,鈥� said Dina Hamid, a spokesperson for the activist group Luetzerath Lives.
鈥淚f this coal is burned, we鈥檙e actually going to take down our climate goals,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e trying to, with our bodies, protect the climate goals.鈥�
The debate flared up hours later at a town hall meeting in nearby Erkelenz, when one regional official accused activists of being willing to 鈥渟pill human blood鈥� to defend the now-abandoned village.
Stephan Pusch, who heads the district administration, said that while he sympathized with the protesters鈥� aims, the time had come to give up Luetzerath. The village鈥檚 last resident left in 2022 after being forced to sell to utility company RWE.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e achieved your goal. Now clear the pitch,鈥� he said to jeers from the room.
Many disagreed, arguing that the village is more than just a potent symbol for the need to stop global warming.
Studies indicate that about 110 million metric tons of coal could be extracted from beneath Luetzerath. The government and RWE say this coal is needed to ensure Germany鈥檚 energy security 鈥� squeezed by the cut in supply of Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine.聽Critics counter that burning so much coal would make it much harder for Germany, and the world, to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius聽(2.7 Fahrenheit) as agreed in the 2015 Paris climate accord.
鈥淣obody wants to be out there in the cold right now, defending a forest or a village,鈥� said Maya Rollberg, a student who had traveled from southern Germany. 鈥淏ut I think that people have realized that they have to do that in order to [protect] future generations.鈥�
Dietmar Jung, a retired priest attending the meeting, said he was tired of hearing officials say the law was on the side of RWE.
鈥淭hey keep going back to the legal situation,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the right to live doesn鈥檛 play a role here [for them].鈥�
Mr. Pusch, the regional administration chief, warned protesters that intentionally breaking the law wouldn鈥檛 help their cause in a country where the violent seizure of power and the horrors of dictatorship are still within living memory.
鈥淚鈥檒l tell you honestly that I鈥檓 scared my children will grow up in a world that isn鈥檛 worth living in anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 at least as scared of my children growing up in a country where everyone takes the law into their own hands.鈥�
鈥淵ou won鈥檛 save the world鈥檚 climate on your own,鈥� said Mr. Pusch. 鈥淸We鈥檒l] only do so if we manage to take the majority of the population with us.鈥�
Similar debates over how far civil disobedience can go have taken place in Germany and elsewhere in recent months amid a wave of road blockades and other dramatic actions by protesters demanding tougher measures to combat climate change.
Some climate activists say the law is ultimately on their side, citing a 2021 ruling by the country鈥檚 supreme court that forced the government to step up its effort to cut emissions. They also note the legally binding nature of Germany鈥檚 commitments under the Paris accord.
Speaking after the town hall meeting, student Jannis Niethammer acknowledged that the dispute over Luetzerath touches on fundamental issues. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a question of democracy and how do we actually get a democracy to move toward climate protection, toward climate justice,鈥� he said.
Janine Wissler, a federal lawmaker and co-leader of the opposition Left party, suggested the way out would be for the government to reverse its decision allowing the village to be razed.
鈥淚f we want to achieve our climate targets and take the Paris climate agreement seriously, then the coal beneath Luetzerath needs to stay in the ground,鈥� she told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the protest.
Ms. Wissler criticized an agreement struck last year between the government and utility company RWE to permit mining beneath the village in return for an earlier end to coal use in Germany. Some experts say that, in sum, the deal will lead to higher emissions.
鈥淲e鈥檙e already experiencing droughts, famines and floods. Climate change is happening already,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd therefore wrong decisions need to be corrected.鈥�
This story was reported by the Associated Press.
