Approximately 85,000 protestors marched against climate change in Amsterdam last Sunday, just days before the Dutch general election. The March for Climate and Justice was organized by the Dutch Climate Crisis Coalition with the aim to raise awareness about the urgent nature of the climate crisis.
The Dutch Climate Crisis Coalition stated:
The climate crisis is here. The world is on fire, melting and flooding. Heat records are being broken time and time again, with significant consequences for all life on Earth. Almost everyone in the Netherlands knows someone who experienced extreme weather this summer. The impacts are felt most by those who have contributed the least to this crisis, both within our borders and far beyond. It is clear that we need to take rapid and drastic action. That’s why we will demand this change in Amsterdam on Sunday, November 12.
Frans Timmermans, head of the Dutch left-leaning Labour and Green Party and former EU Climate Chief, was amongst the marchers. Climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was invited to address the crowd, had her speech interrupted by a man who seized her microphone. During her speech, Thunberg had asserted that climate justice must also consider “voices of those who are oppressed and those who fight for freedom and justice.” The interruption occurred after Thunberg continued her speech following a Palestinian speaker’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
These protests come in the wake of several similar climate protests which have spread across the UK and Europe this year.