A small group of lignite activists penetrates the Garzweiler opencast mine

Around 2000 people demonstrated on Saturday for the preservation of the town of Lützerath, which is threatened by opencast lignite mining. They called on the North Rhine-Westphalian state government and the federal government to stop the expansion of opencast mining in east and west Germany and to limit the amount of coal that can still be mined. This is the only way to ensure compliance with the 1.5 degree limit set in the Paris climate agreement. This also includes an eviction moratorium for Lützerath, it said.

According to the Aachen police, the demonstration around the village of Lützerath, a district of the city of Erkelenz on the edge of the Rhenish lignite mining area Garzweiler II, was largely peaceful. Occasionally there were incidents with pyrotechnics, as a police spokesman said. A small group entered the mine to place a banner there. The energy company RWE has filed a complaint for trespassing.

The police estimated the number of demonstrators on Saturday at 1200 to 1500, the organizers spoke of 2200 participants. An alliance of eight organizations called for the demo, including the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), Campact, Fridays For Future Deutschland, Greenpeace Deutschland, Klima-Allianz Deutschland and initiatives such as “All villages remain”.

Dirk Jansen from BUND emphasized that it was "a great success for the climate movement and the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia" that the Garzweiler opencast mine had been reduced. At the same time, he expressed his disappointment about the "backroom deal" between Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and North Rhine-Westphalia Minister of Economics Mona Neubaur (both Green) with RWE, which allows the energy company to mine 280 million tons of lignite. "This is another heavy burden for climate protection," says Jansen.

Marie-Theres Jung from the Diocesan Council of Catholics in the Diocese of Aachen said that climate catastrophes hit the poorest in the world first. “It is no longer about preserving creation. We have to save what can still be saved,” she warned, referring to the 27th World Climate Conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, where delegates from more than 190 countries are currently negotiating measures to combat global warming.

A month ago, the Green politicians Habeck and Neubaur agreed with RWE on an early phase-out of lignite from 2038 to 2030. The agreement also provides for halving the amount of lignite still available for power generation in the Garzweiler II opencast mine to around 280 million tons. Five villages in the Rhenish area that were previously threatened with resettlement – ​​Keyenberg, Kuckum, Oberwestrich, Unterwestrich, Berverath – are to be preserved. The embattled town of Lützerath, however, is to give way to the excavator in order to get to the lignite underneath.

Jung and Jansen announced further demonstrations. “RWE must be prohibited from creating faits accomplis here. Lützerath must not be evacuated," said the BUND spokesman.

According to the police, around 100 climate activists have been living in tents, caravans and empty houses in the largely deserted village for months to prevent the hamlet from being excavated for opencast lignite mining. Marie-Theres Jung called on her to remain peaceful in her protest. "There must be no conflict about Lützerath, especially one that is resolved by the police," she emphasized. According to the police spokesman, the responsible department for energy and mining, which is part of the Arnsberg district government, has not yet requested an eviction.