Three years ago, climate and environmental activists prevented the RWE Group from clearing the Hambach Forest for coal-fired power generation. Now there's a new place where the anti-coal protest is centered - Lützerath - which lies close to the excavation edge of the Garzweiler lignite opencast mine and stands in the way of its expansion.
A recently published study by a research group from the European University of Flensburg, the Technical University of Berlin and the German Institute for Economic Research Berlin (DIW) again confirms that even in the current gas crisis, the coal under Lützerath is not needed to ensure security of supply. The report comes to the conclusion that a maximum of 235 million tons of coal can still be extracted from the three opencast mines in the Rhenish region - Inden, Hambach and Garzweiler II. With this limitation, not only the Hambach Forest, but also all of the still endangered villages at the Garzweiler opencast mine would be preserved - including Lützerath.
RWE, on the other hand, is currently planning to extract around 900 million tons of coal. According to the DIW, this is around four times as much as would be permitted under the Paris climate agreement. Economics Minister Habeck has announced that it is necessary for the energy giant RWE to mine a further 290 million tons of lignite, including the coal under Lützerath. He even sells this scandal as a success, since an agreement was reached to accelerate the coal phase-out from 2038 to 2030. It is certainly a success for RWE, since they can still make a lot of money until then, but by no means for the planet and the residents of the village. RWE's lignite-fired power plant Neurath was responsible for 32.2 million tons of CO2 equivalents in 2018 - almost as much as the entire Polish energy group PGE caused in the same year.
In order to comply with the 1.5 degree limit agreed in the Paris climate protection agreement, only a residual budget of approx. 70 million tons of lignite may be mined in the Garzweiler opencast mine. Excavating the coal under Lützerath is accelerating the climate crisis, which is already claiming countless lives. Anyone who touches Lützerath is a climate criminal.
With this action of electronic disobedience we target RWE's websites and attempt to cause the temporary suspension of their service. RWE must end the inhumane and environmentally degrading practice of coal mining in the Rhenish mining area!
After the eviction of the village Lützerath despite fierce resistance of thousand activists and residents on 16 January 2023, we will continue electronic protests against RWE. Lützerath has created a great cohesion of everyone who fights for climate justice. We declare: Lützerath lives. From now on Lützerath is everywhere!
In support of the fight for Lützerath we will continue the online protest on the RWE Power AG websites from
Action ended on 20 April 2023
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Information around online protest actions, instructions for download of online protest tools and guidelines for taking part in online demonstrations:
