Yesterday was the International Day of the Climate, marked in Brussels by a human chain formed by 2,400 people, surrounding the federal parliament and the Royal Palace. In Liège, a march for the climate took place departing from the main railway station, which in Madrid, a number of actions were organised around the meeting of world leaders on climate issues, known as COP25.
The participants in Brussels gathered at 1:00 PM by the Central station, before splitting up to go to different spots on the three-kilometre route of the human chain. Police estimated the number at 2,400.
The event was organised by Climate Coalition and Climate Express.
“We are right in the middle of a climate summit, COP25,” Nicolas Van Nuffel of Climate Coalition told Belga. “Belgium has never had enough ambition to respect the Paris accords, so we’re here for two reasons. We want to show our strength, and that we are still here one year after bringing 100,000 people onto the streets of Brussels. The second reason is that we want to press politicians to make decisions. What we need today is a federal government with sufficient ambition for the climate, who will speak up and state clearly that we wish to join those countries with an ambition to save the climate.”
At each of the 12 rallying points along the chain, organisations taking part displayed banners and placards. Greenpeace displayed a banner showing the artist Pieter Brueghel on the Rue Royale. The demonstration was joined by farmers on tractors taking up a post at Place Royale. Other groups indulged in some salsa dancing on Rue de la Loi, while elsewhere a “climate rave” was under way at the Place Surlet-de-Chokier. And four activists who left Ostend on Saturday to walk to the gathering in Brussels dumped four canisters of symbolic sea-water into the fountain on the Mont des Arts.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
