In the Netherlands, Workers Are Taking on Fossil Fuel Giants Like Shell
Today, protests in forty towns and cities across the Netherlands are highlighting the role of Dutch-based firms like Shell in fueling climate crisis. Workers are at the forefront of the struggle — offering hope for a mass environmental movement that goes beyond the middle class.
A police officer speaks to chained activists of University Rebellion outside the Association of Universities during a protest against climate change on March 12, 2021 in The Hague, Netherlands. (Pierre Crom / Getty Images)
Today, people across the Netherlands are taking part in the Climate Alarm, a nationwide set of demonstrations demanding action on the climate crisis. Over the last few months, activists, students, teachers, families, and workers have been forming community coalitions, mobilizing people for local protests planned in over forty towns and cities.
The Climate Alarm is taking place just days before the Dutch general election on March 17 — and it will highlight the need to elect a government that takes this crisis seriously. It will send a clear message to future political leaders that, as our planet burns, we can’t go on with business as usual.
So far, the Dutch government, led by the right-wing VVD party, has chosen to prioritize the very big businesses that are most complicit in the climate crisis. In recent times, it has spent billions of taxpayers’ money on bailing out such companies through subsidies, tax breaks, and loans. “In the current situation our tax money is making the climate crisis worse. This needs to change,” explained the Climate Crisis Coalition, which is leading the Alarm protests.
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