This Saturday, April 6th, climate protesters took action across six European countries to demand that governments stop pouring public money into fossil fuels. Greta Thunberg joined the protesters in the Hague, Netherlands, as they blocked a part of the A12 motorway in front of the Dutch Parliament.
Bas Eickhout: “As Greens, we have been long pushing to stop subsidising fossil fuels. We welcome the support of civil society, with their clear demands to end subsidising the fossil fuel addiction. The billions of euros from fossil fuel subsidies must be channelled into investing in renewable energy."
While millions across Europe struggle to pay the rent, profiteering fossil fuel companies are the big winners of the energy crisis caused by Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. The crisis year 2022 brought 123 billion euro in excess profit to the West’s five largest oil and gas companies. Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016. These huge companies make huge profits while polluting. Moreover, they receive taxpayers' money.
In contrast to the huge costs of fossil fuels, sun and wind energy saved the EU economy 100 billion euros between 2021 and 2023 and brought down energy bills for households. We will push the European Union to build an energy system that is based fully on renewable energy from wind and sun. These are the economic keys to the future: they are cheaper and safer than any other energy source. This way we make Europe more independent from Russian gas and the oil from the Middle East. No European or member state public money should go towards infrastructure that would lock us in a fossil system.
