Greenpeace occupies Fluxys LNG terminal in Zeebrugge to protest gas operators’ disregard of global climate goals

Zeebrugge, 29 April 2023 - This morning 10 climbers and 12 kayaktivists from Greenpeace Belgium occupied Fluxys terminal in Zeebrugge to denounce Fluxys’ role, among European gas operators, in the recent development of US LNG imports to Europe, in total disregard of global climate objectives and human rights, as documented in a recent Greenpeace report. The environmental organisation is calling for the immediate end of US and European development of gas contracts and infrastructures.

Five inflatables with Greenpeace Belgium activists from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK entered Fluxys terminal in Zeebrugge. They climbed onto the quays used for loading, unloading and transboarding the large tankers used to transport fossil LNG gas and deployed a 4x5m banner reading “Gas kills”. Kayaks also entered the terminal.

Mathieu Soete, energy expert at Greenpeace Belgium said: “We are asking EU institutions, US and European national authorities to abandon new gas projects and phase out gas by 2035 at the latest. Following the shock of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, gas operators like Fluxys quickly shifted their public messaging and lobbying from “energy transition” to “energy security” and cynically used the opportunity to frighten governments into massive, unneeded investment into and expansion of fossil gas imports and infrastructure. Under pressure from companies like Fluxys, many gas projects and terminals are emerging across Europe and the US, directly threatening the health of communities near production sites and the entire planet with disastrous environmental and climate impacts.”

The activity follows the publication of a Greenpeace International report revealing how gas companies are driving government policies that lock the US and Europe into hazardous new liquefied gas (LNG) commitments. [1] The import of US LNG into Europe surged in 2022, from 28.8 bcm in 2021 to 68.96 bcm in 2022, an increase of 140%. Europe’s gas demand has not been increasing however, and is expected to decrease.

If the EU LNG terminals under construction or proposed would start production, it can result in a whopping 950 million tonnes of CO2-eq per year associated with these terminals. This is the equivalent of the annual emissions of 211 million cars.2 The build up of new gas infrastructure severely undermines our chances of keeping global heating under the 1.5C (2.7F) threshold.

“Our governments must not allow the gas lobby to influence our energy policies,” said Mathieu Soete. “We cannot lock ourselves into dependence on gas - all gas kills, whether Russian, American or Norwegian. Policy makers must stop the fossil fuel expansion and build a wall between themselves and the fossil fuel lobby to accelerate the transition to decentralised, renewable, and clean energies and slash energy waste.”

Notes

[1] Greenpeace International report “Who Profits From War. How gas corporations capitalise on war in Ukraine”, April 2023. Interactive maps, infographics and more information available at energyjustice.info

[2] See our report, chapters “Europe becoming the first customer for US LNG” and “Unneeded lock-in”.

And https://www.politico.eu/article/us-supply-natural-gas-lng-eu-antony-blinken/

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