Ende Gelände 2019 was a series of large-scale events of a movement for

climate justice Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of clima ...

in Germany. As a continuation of the previous year's actions, the

non-violent direct action Direct action is a term for Economic power, economic and Political power, political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a ce ...

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

events targeted the

coal-fired power plant A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate a ...

s of

RWE Power AG RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed a far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first a ...

and demanded the "immediate

fossil fuel phase-out Fossil fuel phase-out is the proposed gradual global reduction of the use and production of fossil fuels to zero, to reduce air pollution, limit climate change, and strengthen energy independence. It is part of the ongoing renewable energy tra ...

" based on climate justice and

climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

. Between 21 and 23 June 2019, protests centered on the

Garzweiler open pit mine The Tagebau Garzweiler () is a surface mine () in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite. The mine currently has a size of and got its name from the village of which previously existed at ...

of the . Protests also took place in the between 29 November and 1 December 2019.

In the Rhenish lignite mining area

Background

In January 2019, the German

Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employment Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employment (German: (WSB), originally , commonly just called ''Kohlekommission'', that is ''coal commission'', in Germany) is a commission created by the German federal government on 6June 2018, after ...

recommended in its final report that coal should be completely phased out as a power source in Germany by 2038, which was criticized by both scientists, such as Commissioner Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, and environmental organizations as inadequate to prevent

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

from reaching an irreversible tipping point. In February 2019, the climate protection report 2018 was published, according to which Germany was forecast to miss the self-imposed climate protection targets for 2020. On 20 June 2019, the then-heads of state and government of the EU could not agree on neutrality by 2050, because

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

objected to it. The youth climate movement Fridays for Future Deutschland (FFFD) called for an international protest event for climate protection in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

on the 21 June 2019, which drew people from 17 countries. It was assumed that participants in the Fridays for Future demonstration would also participate in the actions of Ende Gelände. In advance, the police had warned of an instrumentalization of Fridays for Future by Ende Gelände 2019, which was seen by many as a "deliberate attempt to divide the movement," but instead it led to public statements of solidarization of Fridays for Future with Ende Gelände, stating that

was a legitimate form of protest to save the future, but, in the demonstration on 22 June 2019 in Hochneukirch/

Jüchen Jüchen () is a municipality in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The municipality of Jüchen consists of 17 villages and several hamlets. The most important villages are Jüchen itself (6600 inhabitants) and Hochneukirc ...

in the direct neighbourhood of the open-pit mine, that Fridays for Future would remain on the

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

side.

Activities

On Friday, 21 June 2019 the Ende Gelände 2019 activities began with a blockade of the North-South ( Nord-Süd Bahn-Kohlenbahn in German) train connection between the

and the

Neurath power station Neurath Power Station is a lignite-fired power station near Neurath in Grevenbroich, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located to the south of Grevenbroich, and it borders the municipalities of Rommerskirchen and Bedburg. The power station c ...

. On Saturday, 22 June 2019, blockades of the Hambach track and occupations of the open pit mine took place, causing RWE to power down four of six power plants. Meanwhile, a

Fridays for Future Fridays for Future (FFF), also known as the School Strike for Climate ( ), is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand climate change mitigation, action from political le ...

(FFF) demonstration was held on 22 June 2019 on the edge of the open pit mine and near Keyenberg, a village scheduled for dredging for open pit mining in the near future. According to the organizers, this event drew some people.

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

reported that the blockade of the Hambach industrial track ended on the morning of 23 June 2019. It was followed by the occupation of the Garzweiler II open pit mine at noon. The railway line to the Neurath power plant was not cleared at this time. Mid-day, Ende Gelände 2019 issued a press release stating that the blockade had ended. More than activists participated in the protests. Police violence was reported in connection with the protests. Police officers used

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conducti ...

s and

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

injuring activists so intensely that they had to be treated in hospitals. The injuries included a

basilar skull fracture A basilar skull fracture is a bone fracture, break of a bone in the base of skull, base of the skull. Symptoms may include Battle sign, bruising behind the ears, periorbital ecchymosis, bruising around the eyes, or hemotympanum, blood behind the ...

. The police said they would take the allegations seriously and investigate accordingly. In addition, participants were prevented from freely leaving the train stations in Hochneukirch and

Viersen Viersen (; ) is the capital of the Viersen (district), district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km ...

, for up to 13 hours, due to what the police called "capacity issues". The police reported eight injured police officers, probably due to falls while trying to stop protesters. After Ende Gelände had already stopped its activities at the Garzweiler open-pit mine, at 5 am (CET) on Monday, 24 June 2019, another group blocked the Hambach industrial spur and seven women occupied an excavator at the Hambach open-pit lignite mine until midday.

In the Lusatian lignite mining area

Background

About 1.4 million Germans joined the third global climate strike on 20 September 2019. On the same day, the

fourth Merkel cabinet The Fourth Merkel cabinet ( German: ''Kabinett Merkel IV'') was the 23rd Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 19th legislative session of the Bundestag. It was sworn in on 14 March 2018 following the 2017 federal election and ...

proposed its climate package, which was criticized as being insufficient by scientists, environmental organizations and the opposition.

Ottmar Edenhofer Ottmar Georg Edenhofer (born 8 July 1961) is a German economist who is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on climate change policy, environmental and energy policy, and energy economics. His work has been heavily cited. Edenhofer curr ...

, director of the

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, ) is a German government-funded research institute addressing crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate impacts, and sustainable development. Ranked among the to ...

, described it as "document of political dispiritedness" with which the set goals for 2030 could not be reached. During the

2019 UN Climate Action Summit The 2019 UN Climate Action Summit was held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City on 23 September 2019. The UN 2019 Climate Summit convened on the theme, "Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win." The ...

on the 23 September 2019, the most important countries also did not bring forward any measures that were ambitious enough.

Activities

On Friday, the 29 November 2019, protesters again demanded more climate protection during the fourth global climate strike. In Germany, about people participated in this event. On Saturday, several thousand activists from

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

started blockades in the open pit mines , and United Schleenhain. Fridays for Future and the initiative supported the activities. As planned, after several hours the activists stopped the blockades in the afternoon. According to the police, three policemen were lightly injured, otherwise the protests remained peaceful despite threats of violence from right-wing extremists in the days before the event.

References

External links

Ende Gelände
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ende Gelände 2019 2019 in Germany 2019 in the environment 2019 protests Occupations (protest) Climate change in Germany Climate change policy Coal mining Coal in Germany Demonstrations Direct action Environmental protests in Germany Mining in Germany RWE Surface mining

In the Rhenish lignite mining area

Background

Activities

In the Lusatian lignite mining area

Background

Activities

See also

References

External links