After a long Corona break, there was another climate march in Brussels

By Jürgen Klute

After a long break due to Corona, there was another climate march in Brussels on Sunday, 23 October 2022. The starting point was the North Station. There, the activists met from 1 pm onwards. The approximately 30,000 demonstrators marched in good weather first on the inner city ring road in the direction of Madou, then into the Rue de la Loi. Passing the buildings of the EU Commission and the EU Council, they continued via the Rond-Point Schuman to the Parc du Cinquantenaire. The march ended there in the afternoon with a final manifestation.

The Brussels Climate March, which took place for the first time in early December 2018, is organised by the Climate Coalition, an alliance of almost a hundred environmental organisations, trade unions and citizens’ movements.

According to the organisers, around 30,000 people took part, while the police counted around 25,000 participants. In view of the energy crisis, this was in any case a considerable number of people campaigning for a fast and effective climate policy. What was striking was the significantly larger number of members of the older generation, who are often suspected of ignoring climate change, compared to previous climate marches in Brussels. Besides environmental initiatives, trade unions and political parties, women’s initiatives, Teachers For Future, Parents and Grandparents for Future and many families were present. As at the previous climate marches in Brussels, there were many creative posters, banners and lots of music.

At the end point of the demonstration at the Arc du Cinquantenaire, there was not only the obligatory final rally, where the urgency of an effective climate policy was once again emphasised, but also food and drink – of course, usually with climate-friendly produced ingredients and often vegetarian or vegan. A novelty were the toilet stalls, which of course could not be missing at a major event. For the first time, environmentally friendly dry toilets were used at a Brussels Climate March.

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