Photos and videos available from the Greenpeace Media Library.
Borkum, Germany – Five Greenpeace activists from Germany and the Netherlands have boarded and are currently occupying an offshore gas rig belonging to the Dutch energy company ONE-Dyas since 6:15 CEST, with the messages ‘No new gas’ and ‘Gas Zerstört’ (‘Gas destroys’), around 20 kilometres northwest of the German island of Borkum, on the Dutch continental shelf. In total, 21 climate activists are at sea to prevent the platform from being fixed and installed. Greenpeace is calling on the European Union and its member states to ban new fossil fuel infrastructure projects across Europe.[1]
Mira Jaeger, energy expert from Greenpeace Germany, said: “The climate crisis is throwing us from one extreme weather event to the next at an ever-increasing rate. The science is clear, we must stop digging and drilling for fossil fuels if we are to avoid the worst of climate chaos. We cannot afford any new fossil fuel extraction projects. Not in the North Sea or anywhere else. If national governments won’t stop the endless greed of fossil fuel companies, it’s time for the EU to take action and ban new fossil fuel infrastructure projects across Europe. It is a matter of safety and a matter of justice for present and future generations.”
As floods devastate southern Germany and now reach the Netherlands, the fossil fuel industry prepares for new gas drilling in the North Sea, threatening the global climate and local biodiversity. The District Court of The Hague had initially halted this controversial fossil gas extraction project for over a year, but ONE-Dyas received an updated environmental permit from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate a few days ago, on 29 May.[2] The company immediately sent the gas drilling platform ‘Prospector 1’ to the site.
The gas extracted from this new gas project would account for 1% of the current German gas consumption. Jaeger added: “Not only would this gas extraction project fuel the climate crisis, it could also destroy precious ecosystems. With this project, the Dutch and German ministries are risking a huge amount of destruction for very little gas. There’s still time to stop it: our energy security doesn’t depend on it, but the climate impact and the destruction of this unique rocky reef would be irreversible.”
As European voters elect their new parliament in a few days’ time, the future of Europe’s energy system is emerging as a pressing issue. The Borkum project is just the tip of the iceberg: in Europe, fossil fuel companies are pushing European states into such massive, unnecessary investments just like TotalEnergies’ LNG terminal in France, or OMV’s Neptun Deep gas drilling project in Romania. But the European Union can and must put its member states on a path away from fossil fuels, by banning new fossil fuel projects and investing in an energy system based on renewables and energy sufficiency.
In the North Sea, activists on board the platform are determined to stop the installation of the rig. Meanwhile, environmental organisations and other plaintiffs have also filed another application with the highest Dutch court to stop the construction of the planned drilling platform off the island of Borkum.[3]
ENDS
Notes:
Photos and videos are available from the Greenpeace Media Library.
[1] In an open letter to the European Union and its member states, Greenpeace demands a ban on all new fossil fuel projects for a safe future.
[2] The ‘Prospector 1’ is due to drill its first wells in the coming weeks. Over the course of the year, One Dyas plans to set up a production platform and extract gas from a total of twelve wells – on the Dutch and German continental shelf. Authorisation for the wells on the German side is still pending. The drilling site is in the immediate vicinity of several nature reserves.
On 25 April 2023, the District Court of The Hague halted the project after a lawsuit brought by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), Bürgerinitiative Saubere Luft Ostfriesland, Mobilisation for the Environment (MOB), the island community of Borkum and others, over climate and biodiversity destruction fears. On 18 April 2024, it ruled in favour of the plaintiffs. But now that some adjustments have been made, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has once again cleared the way for the project.
[3] Environmental organisations and other plaintiffs have also filed another application with the highest Dutch court to stop the construction of the planned drilling platform off the island of Borkum.
Contacts:
Greenpeace Germany: Sonka Terfehr, press officer, [email protected], +49 17 55 89 17 18
Greenpeace Netherlands: Laura Polderman, press officer, [email protected], +316 29 00 11 40
Fossil-free future European campaign: Manon Laudy, press officer, [email protected], +336 49 15 69 83
Greenpeace International Press Desk: [email protected], +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours). Follow @greenpeacepress for our latest international press releases.