The Climate Crisis Coalition (KCC), a collaboration of 8 social and environmental organizations, is organizing a climate march on Friday, May 31, in Amsterdam, right in the heart of the beast: the Zuidas. This is because, as the climate crisis now threatens everything we hold dear, large corporations continue to finance and facilitate projects that cause great harm to nature, the environment, and people. This must stop.
The most recent climate reports do not lie: the climate is changing much faster than expected. Droughts, heatwaves, and floods are already causing victims, chaos, and destruction. Big polluters are primarily responsible for this development. They make money at the expense of the health and safety of societies worldwide. This exploitation of nature often goes hand in hand with the exploitation of workers. Shareholders of big polluting companies are getting richer, while workers can no longer make ends meet, and our future is under pressure due to the climate crisis. It is time for a government that places the interest of people above the interest of profit.
Forcing companies to take responsibility
According to the KCC, companies should serve people and the environment. The financing of climate and nature destruction must stop. We want all subsidies, financing, investments, and insurances of the fossil industry to be phased out. The money saved from this should be used for a more just world in which people who are now hit hardest – here and abroad – are compensated. Additionally, we want workers, concerned citizens, and the government to have more say in the direction of companies, making them more sustainable and social. Finally, we demand that the heaviest burdens fall on the big polluters, not on the people. Invest in good green jobs, cheap public transportation, and more insulated social housing.
Peer de Rijk (Milieudefensie): “This climate crisis is mainly caused by the big polluting companies, their financiers, and their shareholders. That’s why we are heading to the Zuidas in Amsterdam, where many of them are located. By bringing concerned citizens, young and old, to their doorsteps en masse, we want to force the top executives to change course.”
Laura Kits (Extinction Rebellion): “Enough is enough. We can no longer wait for companies to take responsibility themselves. Their climate plans are still not in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. To limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, big polluting companies must take action now and drastically reduce their emissions. It’s time to make it heard on the Zuidas that not the profit of shareholders, but the wellbeing of people, animals, and the earth should be the top priority.”
Announcement on Zuidas
The Climate Crisis Coalition announced the new manifestation on Monday morning, March 25, at Gustav Mahlerplein on the Zuidas in Amsterdam, by hoisting a large banner by Laura Kits and Peer de Rijk. The Climate March Zuidas itself will take place on Friday afternoon, May 31, a week before the European elections. In addition to a march past the various headquarters on the Zuidas, there is also a large program where the members and allies of the Climate March Coalition can engage in discussions with the participants and the people working on the Zuidas.
The Climate Crisis Coalition consists of eight members: Oxfam Novib, FNV, Fridays for Future, Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion NL, Fossil Free NL, Milieudefensie, and DeGoedeZaak. In addition, more than 100 allies have joined.
