Climate activists blocked Amsterdam’s main motorway today, demanding an immediate halt to the financing of fossil fuel projects by the country’s largest bank.
Police said hundreds of activists took to the A10 motorway south of the city around midday after road services closed the road to avoid casualties.
The protest took place at the site of the former headquarters of ING, which is the main financier of fossil fuel projects in the Netherlands, according to protesters.
The reason is ING said earlier this month it would stop funding oil and gas exploration and production by 2040 and triple the amount of new renewable energy credits over the next two years as part of its updated climate strategy.
In the end, protesters rejected the pledge and called on the bank to immediately divest from all fossil projects.
Nevertheless, ING called the demands “radical and unrealistic” and stressed that “the capacity and infrastructure to quickly switch to 100 percent renewable energy is simply not there yet.”
Protesters, including children and elderly people, sit peacefully and walk along the motorway waving banners and flags. Police say the protesters are looking for a way to end the demonstration peaceful.
