Extinction Rebellion pauses daily A12 highway blockades; Hague mayor relieved

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is suspending the blockades on the Utrechtsebaan (A12) in The Hague. The group of activists will await a vote in parliament on Tuesday on a motion in which Suzanne Kroger (GroenLInks) and Raoul Boucke (D66) asked for a phase-out plan for fossil fuel subsidies. The Hague mayor, Jan van Zanen, called it a relief.

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Fossil subsidies are schemes like tax discounts and excise duty exemptions for the fossil fuel industry. If the motion is not adopted, the daily blockades will resume, XR said. The climate activists consider the motion “recognition that politicians also see that 39.7 to 46.4 billion euros in fossil subsidies annually cannot be defended.”

In the motion, the two parliamentarians ask the government to draw up scenarios before the Christmas recess for ending the subsidies “in the term of 2, 5, and 7 years.” For each scheme, the government must also indicate how many negative consequences can be mitigated and which “national measures” can be taken if subsidies are fixed in a European context. Kroger and Boucke called fossil subsidies an “obstacle in the transition to a climate-neutral society.”

XR blocked the A12 highway in The Hague for the 27th day in a row on Thursday. Dozens of demonstrators were again arrested. 

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