• The protesters, carrying XR flags and placards, were blocked from reaching the A12 highway.
• Thunberg, who joined the march, emphasized the importance of the demonstration due to the planetary emergency.
• XR claimed the protest was part of a plan to pressure the Dutch government.

Police arrested at least one protester on Saturday following a tense stand-off during a climate march against fossil subsidies, which environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg joined. Dozens of police officers, some on horseback, blocked protesters from reaching the A12 arterial highway into the Dutch seaside city, the scene of previous actions organized by the Extinction Rebellion (XR) group.

Protesters carrying XR flags and placards with slogans such as “Stop fuel subsidies now!” and “The planet is dying!” marched from the city center to a field next to the highway, where they encountered a wall of law enforcement. Thunberg, dressed in a grey top, black trousers, and blue shoes, joined the group at the start and chanted songs with them as they abruptly came to a stop.

“It’s important to demonstrate today because we are living in a state of planetary emergency,” Thunberg told the news.

“We must do everything to avoid that crisis and to save human lives,” she said.

A news agency correspondent witnessed at least one protester being arrested and dragged away to a waiting police van. When asked if she was concerned about police action and arrest, Thunberg responded, “Why should I be?”

Activists stated that despite majority backing by the Dutch parliament as well as broad popular support for slashing fossil fuel subsidies, “the plans will not be implemented before 2030, or even 2035.”

“Meanwhile the ecological crisis continues to rage and the country’s outgoing cabinet pretends that we have all the time in the world, while the crisis is now,” XR said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.

XR added that the protest was part of a plan to pressure the Dutch government ahead of another planned debate about fossil subsidies in June.

[embedpost slug=”greta-thunberg-faces-trial-over-oil-protest-activism/”]