Gdansk, Poland – Greenpeace activists from seven countries have climbed the cranes at a coal terminal in Gdansk, Poland, halting operations and the unloading of a coal shipment, the second climate emergency protest at the port this week.
This peaceful action takes place two days after the Greenpeace flagship the Rainbow Warrior sailed into the Gdansk port and dropped anchor at the coal terminal, stopping the arrival of the same coal shipment to Poland. Activists in RHIBS painted the words “Stop Coal” on the side of the coal vessel and displayed banners saying ‘No Future in Coal’.
Polish authorities detained a number of Greenpeace activists earlier this week and masked and armed border guards boarded the Rainbow Warrior, forcing entry by breaking a window with a sledge hammer. The Rainbow Warrior and those on board are still being detained.
“We have little time left to prevent an unfolding climate disaster and the Polish government’s reliance on coal puts at risk our hopes for a safe and sustainable future. This is why activists are compelled to take action. Polish citizens are calling for a transition (1) from coal towards renewable energy. This means that Poland, like other European Union countries, must end the use of coal by 2030 at the latest,” Paweł Szypulski, Program Director of Greenpeace Poland, said.
“The Polish government has no clear plan to move away from coal by 2030, and in June, Prime Minister Morawiecki blocked the EU’s strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Europe’s goal of climate neutrality is not only critical in the fight against the climate crisis, but would also secure Poland independence from the import of coal, gas and oil.”
To keep global warming to 1.5°C and prevent a climate catastrophe, Greenpeace is calling on the EU to achieve total decarbonisation by 2040 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030. Phasing out coal by 2030 at the latest is a key milestone in this transition.
“Governments around the world should act quickly and decisively to address the climate crisis rather than suppress peaceful protests calling for climate action,” Szypulski added.
On 20 September, three days before the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in New York, where leaders will be called to come with plans not speeches, millions of people across the world will participate in youth-led strikes to demand transformative action to address the climate crisis.
Photos can be accessed here.
Notes:
1. 76% of Polish people support a coal phase out: https://www.greenpeace.org/archive-poland/pl/press-centre/dokumenty-i-raporty/Badanie-wyborcy-chca-Polski-bez-wegla-w-2030-roku/
Contacts:
Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org
Follow @greenpeacepress on twitter for our latest international press releases
