Borkum, Germany – 18 Greenpeace activists from Germany and the Netherlands are currently at sea, protesting the installation of a gas extraction platform belonging to the Dutch energy company ONE-Dyas.[1]
In the North Sea, near the biodiverse Wadden Sea area between Germany and the Netherlands, the climate activists have anchored three floating islands at the destination of the extraction platform N05-A, while other activists are demonstrating in inflatable boats with flags and banners bearing the slogans “Gas destroys” and “No New Gas”. Legal proceedings challenging the construction permit are still ongoing, one German permit is still pending. Greenpeace calls for the project to be dropped and urges the European Union and its member states to ban new fossil fuel infrastructure projects across Europe.[2]
Mira Jaeger, energy expert from Greenpeace Germany, said: “Today, ONE-Dyas is willing to risk the destruction of precious ecosystems in the Wadden Sea, for a project for which legal proceedings against the permit are still ongoing. This is irresponsible. And if the project goes ahead, it will contribute to worsening the climate crisis. Gas is just as bad a fossil fuel as oil and coal, despite what fossil fuel companies would have us believe. It is up to the German Government not to sign the bilateral agreement with the Netherlands that is still required for the gas extraction and thereby stop the project.”[3]
Diederick van den Ende, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace Netherlands, added: “With projects like this one, fossil fuel companies are putting our safety at risk by destroying precious ecosystems and exacerbating the climate crisis. We cannot afford any new fossil fuel extraction projects. Not in the North Sea or anywhere else. The EU has a responsibility to step up, and to ban all new fossil fuel infrastructure projects. It is a matter of safety and justice for present and future generations. In the meantime, we’ll continue to challenge these destructive projects at sea, on land and in the courts.”
ONE-Dyas’ drilling project, located in the immediate vicinity of the Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage Site, is already more than a year behind schedule. In early June this year, the company had already towed the Prospector 1 drilling platform to the planned site. Greenpeace activists occupied the platform for more than 8 hours, before the Dutch Council of State temporarily suspended ONE-Dyas’ activities.
Over the past few years, environmental organisations in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the local community on the island of Borkum, have highlighted the project’s impact on the global climate and local biodiversity and led several legal challenges.[4] While an appeal against the construction permit is still pending, the highest Dutch administrative Court ruled on 21 June that ONE-Dyas can resume its work to install the drilling platform. That’s why Greenpeace is taking action today.
The Borkum project is just the tip of the iceberg: In Europe, fossil fuel companies are pushing European states into such massive, unnecessary investments, such as TotalEnergies’ LNG terminal in France, or OMV’s Neptun Deep gas drilling project in Romania. Such projects lock countries into fossil energy systems that harm the environment, the climate and people. For Greenpeace, 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.
ENDS
Photos and videos available from the Greenpeace Media Library.
Notes:
[1] The company ONE-Dyas plans to exploit the N-05A fossil gas field located in the southeastern part of the North Sea, around 20 kilometres northwest of the North Sea island of Borkum. The N-05A natural gas field is located in the immediate vicinity of the Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[2] 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.
[3] 5 reasons why ‘natural’ (fossil) gas is no better than oil and coal – Greenpeace International
[4] Drilling is planned to take place on both Dutch and German territory. The Dutch Court is expected to judge the current appeal against the construction permit. Close to the drilling site and along the cable route intended to supply power to the production platform are unique rocky reefs worthy of protection, which Greenpeace Germany scientifically documented for the first time in 2023. These would be massively endangered by sediment and pollutant inputs during construction work and gas extraction.
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
Greenpeace International Press Desk: [email protected], +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours). Follow @greenpeacepress for our latest international press releases.
