face à face

This morning (28th october) around 9:00am dozens of costumed activists have blocked all access to the Charlemagne Building in Brussels, next to the Commission’s HQ, where Business Europe, the EU lobby of bosses and industrialists, is supposed to hold their conference on Copenhagen and climate change and hear Barroso self-congratulate himself on green capitalism. Belgian activists retort: Our Climate Ain’t None of Your Business!

[press release(En/Fr) | report (fr) | fotos | 1 2 3 | Climate IMC report | Climate Justice Action]

For over one and a half hours, hundreds of corporate lobbyists wishing to attend the annual BusinessEurope conference were prevented from entering the Charlemagne building this morning.

The Climate action group Climate Alarm!, consisting of activists from Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany, blocked the main entrance to the conference.

Eight activists physically blocked revolving doors and shut side doors with chains. Another group attached loud alarms to balloons which then floated to the ceiling. The group then disrupted the lobby area for over an hour and a half, playing music and shouting slogans: ALERT! OUR CLIMATE NOT YOUR BUSINESS! CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!

The blockade only fell after one of the chains was cut, but even then it took a long time for the police to make the entrance area open for participants. There was a lot of media, photo journalists and television cameras.

The police first arrested a man who had nothing to do with the action. In the end, another 25 activists were arrested. One of the detained individuals later escaped police custody.

BusinessEurope is the biggest industry lobby group in Brussels and unites many of the most polluting sectors. Corporate sponsors include Shell, Arcelor Mittal, BASF and Daimler, who are all known for their anti-climate lobbying.

The police used excessive violence by spraying pepper spray into the closed cubicles of the revolving doors in which people had voluntarily trapped themselves. The police did this after they had already cut the chains of one door.

At the afternoon sessions of the BusinessEurope conference, activists intervened theatrically in 3 occasions. First 4 singers sang an acapella song “Climate not your business” during a speech by Shell CEO Graeme Sweeney. Later, 3 clowns ran after each other with placards saying “Don’t Joke with the Climate” and “You’re Just Greenwashing”. Finally, 4 people disturbed the speech of Philippe de Buck, Director General of BusinessEurope by holding a banner and blowing loud whistles. Nobody got arrested in the afternoon. At 18pm, the 24 arrested activists from the morning action are still held.

21:00 CET update - All arrested activists have been freed and are away from cops with their loved ones

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