Greenpeace shuts down coal port

Europe’s largest coal import harbour in Rotterdam was temporarily shut down following a protest by Greenpeace activists this week, who were calling for an end to the use of fossil fuels and a switch to renewable energy. The ‘Argus’ ship blocked cranes unloading coal from South Africa, Indonesia, US and Australia, halting the import process.

The influential environmental campaign group is urging European governments and power sector authorities to commit more towards renewables over the coming decade, and establish legally binding targets to assure progress.

"Greenpeace is here today to expose Europe's dangerous addiction to coal. This port currently imports 24.7 million tonnes of coal from all over the world each year, and every tonne returns to us as climate change," commented Sven Teske, Greenpeace International renewable energy expert.

"A combination of legally binding targets, support mechanisms for renewable energies and phase-out of subsidies for fossil energy will make an uptake of renewables real," added Mr. Teske, aboard the Argus.