Dutch climate activists protest fossil fuel subsidies by blocking highway

Several thousand climate activists blocked a Dutch highway in anger at billions of euros in government subsidies for industries that use oil, coal and gas revealed in a report earlier this week.

The protesters — from Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and other organisations — broke through a police barrier on Saturday and sat on a main road in The Hague heading to the temporary venue for the lower house of parliament.

They threatened to stay until the subsidies were lifted and to come back every day if the police removed them.

The activists brandished signs with sayings like “Fossil Fuel Subsidies are Not Cool,” and warned that the extreme temperatures seen around the world this summer are a sign of the future if fossil fuels aren't abandoned.

The action is part of a series of protests led by Extinction Rebellion targeting the Dutch parliament.

A report published on Monday said the Dutch government spends around $40.5 billion (€37.5 billion) per year in subsidies to industries that use fossil fuels — notably the powerful shipping industry. The report was published by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, known as SOMO, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth and Oil Change International.

Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten acknowledged that the country has to end the subsidies, but has offered no timeline.

The report calls on lawmakers to begin phasing out the subsidies even before the country’s Nov. 22 general election.