Netherlands, the Council of State suspends gas exploration off the coast of Germany

Drilling for gas at the "Prospector 1" site, off the coast of the island of Borkum, supported by Germany and the Netherlands, has been suspended by judges.

The Council of State of the Netherlands imposed on the One-Dyas company to suspend its activities on the offshore site “Prospector 1” for the extraction of gas located near the German island of Borkum. To report it is the non-governmental organization Greenpeace, who had carried out an awareness campaign against the project in the previous hours, occupying one of the platforms located in North Sea and displaying banners with the words “No new gas” and “Gas Zerstört” (“Gas destroys”, in Italian).

The outcome of a hearing scheduled for June 12 is awaited

Also together with other associations, as in the case of Deutsche Umwelthilfe, had been brought to the attention administrative justice Dutch precisely in order to obtain a provisional suspension measure.This is looking forward to a hearing which was set for June 12th.

“Resistance from below works.Whether it's occupying a platform or attacking a project in court, people will not remain silent.As floods and heatwaves devastate homes and claim lives locally and globally, fossil fuel companies are planning numerous new gas projects across Europe.But the science is clear:there is no room for new oil and gas extraction if we want the world to stay below 1.5 degrees", commented Mira Jäger, energy expert at Greenpeace Germany.

“The project involves enormous risks for very little gas”

The drilling carried out off the island of Borkum aims to identify new ones deposits of gas in the seabed.Which would potentially represent only 1 percent of the entire country's current consumption Germany:“This project – added Jäger – would not only fuel the climate crisis, but it could also destroy valuable ecosystems.The Netherlands and Germany are risking a lot, however very little gas.But we still have time to stop."

However, the project of Borkum it is not the only one supported by the big fossil companies in Europe.Other examples are represented by terminal for liquefied natural gas of TotalEnergies in France, from the site Neptune Deep Of Omv in Romania or even the initiatives of Eni in Italy against which Greenpeace and ReCommon have initiated a legal action.