In Lusatia, our future and our climate are sacrificed for profit. The Swedish state-owned company Vattenfall has handed over its lignite branch to the Czech investment group EPH on the 30th of September 2016. The constituting Board will meet on the 11th of October in Cottbus. Let’s welcome them with our resistance!

For decades, Vattenfall has been destroying the region Lusatia in Eastern Germany to make money with coal – and has now disposed of any reliability. EPH, too, has only one goal: Making money as quickly as possible. They want to continue the lignite mining business as long as they can, tearing down more villages. The money will disappear into dubious offshore company constructions instead of reserves; and very soon, once the lignite business is really not profitable any more, EPH will shirk any responsibility – and leave behind a destroyed region.

Whether Vattenfall or EPH: Investing in lignite mining means continuing a socially and ecologically devastating economic system. Billions of follow-up costs will be the result: The community will have to pay for a “renaturalization” of the open cast pits; workers will be abandoned. Meanwhile, more CO2 is emitted, which further fuels catastrophic climate change and deprives billions of people especially in the Global South of their livelihoods.

At Pentecost 2016, Ende Gelände went to Lusatia with nearly 4000 people to block lignite mining infrastructure and show that we are the investment risk.

Our resistance is the welcome present for EPH. Let’s show the constituting Board on October 11th 2016 at 8.30 am that agents of climate change and social and ecological destruction have no place in Lusatia!

Our protest is part of the global action week Reclaim Power – Peoples’ Action on Energy and Climate to protest against fossil fuels and demand the right to energy for everyone. Climate change is a global problem; we need to tackle it in a joint effort at local level worldwide.

We say: Ende Gelände for lignite mining in Lusatia!
Exit coal now!
System change not climate change!

Be there: On Tuesday, 11th of October 2016 at 13.30 am for the first session of the EPH Board, Vom-Stein-Straße 39, 03050 Cottbus.

Joint journey starting from Berlin main station:
Departure on Tuesday, 11th of October at 11.15 from platform 11. Meeting point at the front of the train (direction of travel).

For any requests, email to ende-gelaende-berlin-mobi@riseup.net