North Rhine-Westphalia: Demo for Lützerath at the opencast mine: "No coal for NRW"

The hamlet of Lützerath at the Garzweiler opencast mine is a protest symbol for climate protection. Its original inhabitants no longer live here. That’s what activists came for. Now the place is supposed to disappear – climate protectors don’t accept that.

Lützerath (dpa / lnw) – climate protectors demonstrated in Lützerath at the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine against the planned excavation of the site. The protest action on Sunday was organized as a village walk, which is to be repeated every Sunday midday until further notice. The organizers include the “All Villages Remain” initiative. A spokesman estimated the number of participants at 200 to 300, a dpa reporter on site, however, around 150 protesters.

Among other things, the posters read: “This is also where it is decided whether our planet survives” or “No coal for RWE – Lützi stays”. When coal is used to generate electricity, the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is produced. The walk was not accompanied by the police.

For more than a year, activists have been living in the hamlet consisting of a few houses on the edge of the large open-cast mine. They want to prevent the site from disappearing for the lignite underneath. Lützerath, called “Lützi” here, has become a new symbol for the protest movement. The original residents have already moved away.

The federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the energy company RWE have agreed that RWE will phase out lignite early in 2030. Part of the agreement is that five villages remain in the vicinity of the Garzweiler opencast mine, but that Lützerath is claimed.

The agreement was presented on Tuesday by NRW Economics Minister Mona Neubaur and Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (both Greens) and RWE boss Markus Krebber.

Against the decided end of the place there is protest from the ranks of climate protectors. Should Lützerath actually be cleared, the actions would “pick up,” said David Dresen, spokesman for “All Villages Remain” of the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf.

When asked whether the protest was not a hopeless undertaking in view of the latest political decisions, he replied that the relevant changes in the law had not yet been decided. Changes to the coal plans, which are unnecessary from the point of view of the climate protectors, are always possible. The alliance will continue to demonstrate: “We do not agree.”