Climate activist village, RWE, Open-Pit mine. Lutzerath, Germany. Thursday, 12 January 2023. The German town of Lutzerath, not too far from the Dutc
Climate activist village, RWE, Open-Pit mine. Lutzerath, Germany. Thursday, 12 January 2023. The German town of Lutzerath, not too far from the Dutch border, has had a makeshift village occupied by climate activists for the better part of two-years. All came to an abrupt end this week, as police arrived in-mass and totalling 1000 strong, to dismantle, arrest and evict the village occupiers from the settlement they refer to as ‘Utopia’. All entry points leading to and from the village were manned by checkpoints. The settlement consists of makeshift homes, built from discarded recycled building material, some with solar panels and some structures measuring meters in hight, also- platforms and tree-houses secured to the tree canopy. The complex has one main building as a community food and hygiene area, this was to be one of the last strongholds. Today, the building housed on the whole a group of very peaceful activist. A very small minority occupying central wing of the complex, threw stones, bottles, fireworks and apples at the police! The land is owned by energy company RWE, who, after having brought-out most residents, plan to expand its current Open-pit mining policy in the area until now occupied. According to the company, coal extraction is still necessary; as Germany is still dependent on coal, even more so, now that Russian gas is in less supply due to the war in Ukraine. RWE says it has to supply contracts and therefore needs to extract coal. RWE’s power station in in site of its Open-pit mine. Image: Hard-line element of climate activists, with face covered being escorted by police to detention center to be booked, during today’s evection and security clamp-down in Lutzerath, Germany. © Charles M Vella/Alamy Stock Photo
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: RWE. Open-Pit mine, Lutzerath, Germany
Photo credit: © Charles M Vella / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: activism., biodiversity., change., climate, conservation., eco-conscious., education., environmental, extinction, gas., germany., iquefied, lng., lutzerath, natural, nature., ocean, open-pit, rebellion., rwe.
