CNN —
Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been arrested by German police during a protest against the expansion of a coal mine in the western German village of Lützerath.
This is the second time Thunberg has been arrested at the scene, police spokesman Christof Hüls told CNN on Tuesday. She was part of a large group of protesters who broke through a police cordon and entered a coal mine that authorities were unable to fully secure, Huls said.
After the group advanced onto the coal mine, police feared the “masses of protesters” could set the ground in motion after it had been softened by rains in recent days. Officers intervened, taking people out of the “danger area” and arresting them, including Thunberg, police said.
“We knew who she was, but she didn’t get VIP treatment,” Huls said. “She didn’t fight back,” he added.
Thunberg had been the key speaker at the rally on Saturday and “surprisingly” returned to protest on Sunday, when she was first arrested, and then again on Tuesday, he said.
Thunberg joined thousands of other activists and protesters taking part in weekend demonstrations against the demolition of the German village that would make way for an expansion of the Garzweiler opencast brown coal mine, owned by European energy giant RWE. Once the clearance is complete, RWE plans to erect a 1.5-kilometer fence around the village, sealing off the village’s buildings, roads and sewers before they are demolished.
The expansion of the coal mine is important for climate activists. They argue that continuing to burn coal for energy would increase emissions to warm the planet and violate the Paris Climate Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Lignite is the most polluting type of coal, which is itself the most polluting fossil fuel.
Thunberg tweeted on Friday that she was in Lützerath to protest against the expansion and asked others to get involved. Thunberg addressed the activists on Saturday. “The carbon is still in the ground,” she said. “And as long as the carbon is in the ground, this fight is not over.”
“We must stop the current destruction of our planet and sacrifice people to fuel near-term economic growth and corporate greed,” she said.
Climate strike week 230. We are in Lützerath, a German village that is threatened with demolition because of a colliery expansion. People have been resisting for years. Join us here at 12 or a local protest tomorrow to demand this #Lützerath stays !#climate strike pic.twitter.com/hGrCK6ZQew
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 13, 2023
Clashes between the activists and police have continued this month, and photos from the protests show police officers wearing riot gear trying to remove the protesters. Some of the protesters have been in Lützerath for more than two years, CNN had previously reported, and occupied the homes abandoned by former residents after they were vacated to make way for the mine.
More than 1,000 police officers were involved in the evacuation operation. In the meantime, most of the village buildings have been cleared and replaced by excavators.
RWE and the Greens in Germany both dismiss claims that mine expansion will increase overall emissions, saying European caps mean additional carbon emissions can be offset. However, several climate reports have highlighted the need to accelerate clean energy and the transition away from fossil fuels. Recent studies also suggest that Germany may not even need the extra coal. An August report by the international research platform Coal Transitions found that coal-fired power plants, even if operating at very high capacity by the end of this decade, already have more coal on hand than is needed from existing supplies.
This story has been updated with more information.