Climate protesters in Brussels demand EU-wide end to gov’t support for fossil fuels, warning of ‘ecological and social collapse’

United for Climate Justice (UCJ), a platform of climate and social justice movements coordinating the Stop Fossil Subsidies campaign, has held a protest in Brussels urging EU leaders to put an end to state funding of fossil fuels.

Around 400 demonstrators from Europe and the Global South organized a climate march on October 4, 2024, in Brussels, starting in front of the European Parliament at Place du Luxembourg and ending in Merode, where the demonstrators held a People’s Assembly on Climate Justice. Meanwhile, 135 activists blocked Boulevard du Jardin Botanique for two hours, resulting in the arrest of 115 people, including Greta Thunberg.

These demonstrations follow an open letter co-signed by over 130 academics and organizations including Oxfam, Greenpeace, ActionAid International, 350.org, Legambiente, and Laudato Si Movement, addressed to the Presidents of the European Commission, Council, and Parliament, and candidate commissioners, and sent by UCJ on October 1.

Fossil fuel subsidies, the letter notes, “distort energy demand, perpetuate dependence on polluting energy sources, and undermine European energy security, while subsidising industries that contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.” 

According to the letter, the subsidies are incompatible with the EU’s environmental targets and fuel the global climate crisis, particularly affecting vulnerable communities in Europe and the Global South. The signatories urge EU leaders to implement a pledge to eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies across the EU by 2025, in line with the Paris Agreement, as set down in the 8th Environmental Action Programme (EAP).

“European leaders’ continued support for the fossil fuel industry raises serious questions about their commitment to effective climate action. Our politicians have failed us. That is why we call for the creation of binding citizens’ assemblies,” said UCJ’s Paolo Destilo. “Past participatory democracy initiatives show that citizens elected by lot and informed by scientists are far more capable of representing society’s interests than career politicians who think only of winning votes and protecting the interests of a minority of wealthy shareholders.”

​​Despite promising to eliminate harmful subsidies, the EU has made little to no progress, the signatories argue, noting that data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that explicit fossil subsidies in the EU exceeded €171 billion in 2022. Without swift and decisive action, the activists believe the EU will not be able to achieve its climate goals for 2030 and 2050, with “devastating” consequences for ecosystems, economies, and human lives in Europe and abroad.

Dr. Angela Huston Gold, UCJ spokesperson, noted: “Last month alone, 10,000 people in Europe were evacuated because of storm Boris, and recent floods in Africa took over 1,000 lives. Increasingly frequent and extreme natural disasters are likely to claim a billion victims by the end of the century, mainly due to the use of fossil fuels. To avoid ecological and social collapse, fossil fuel subsidies must end now.”

The People’s Assembly on Climate Justice gathered 20 people representing European and global communities to talk about how the climate crisis and fossil subsidies are affecting them. Discussions by participants focused on how the fossil economy fuels militarization and wars that displace and take the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. 

Sophie Paul, Scientists for Extinction Rebellion UK, on the People’s Assembly: “Today’s assembly was a success in terms of being truly intersectional and international, to address our shared struggles. Bringing people’s voices to the forefront in an assembly format worked to centre the voices of the people affected, and is a model that can be used elsewhere.”

As transitioning away from fossil fuels is a formal goal of countries of the world after the pledges made at COP28, the eighth edition of the Sustainability Trends Report – a publication by London’s Generation Investment Management – looked into the global progress in transitioning to a low-emissions economy.

The report identifies international cooperation as the way towards a long-term sustainability and energy transition since all countries have a shared interest in finding ways to cut emissions and reduce their carbon footprint, a scenario which seems likely to happen only in a world characterized by collaboration, and not trade wars.