Tensions flare as Extinction Rebellion protests fuel fears of a climate disaster:

In a huge move, climate activists from Extinction Rebellion brought traffic in the Dutch city of The Hague to a screeching halt on January 11, causing chaos throughout the city. Despite the fact that the protest had been officially banned by the Dutch Government, hundreds of demonstrators stormed the A12 motorway, preventing cars from entering or leaving the city, all in a fiery stand against the government’s controversial fossil fuel subsidies.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. Thousands of Extinction Rebellion activists previously protested against fossil fuel subsidies by blocking the A12 motorway in 2023.

This time, despite police efforts to block the protest, including erecting screens and fences along the road, several groups of passionate protesters made their way past the barriers, turning the busy highway into their battleground for change. The government had already banned the protest, but it went ahead anyway.

The Dutch government’s decision to reintroduce fossil fuel subsidies, once scrapped, is stoking the flames of public outrage. According to climate protestors ‘It’s a long-term protest to stop fossil subsidies,‘ not a spur-of-the-moment initiative. According to some protestors, the fires in Los Angeles are direct evidence of climate change caused by fossil fuels. There were angry shouts against the €47 billion a year given to ‘the most polluting businesses in the Netherlands’. What is really happening? Is the government funding fossil fuels despite scientific evidence that these fossil fuels are leading to worldwide disasters? Are the protestors’ claims accurate, or is this just populism?

Anger and controversy over fossil fuel subsidies in the Netherlands

In 2023, the Dutch government admitted that fossil fuel subsidies in the country amounted to a staggering €39.7 to €46.4 billion annually. And now, the new right-wing government has decided to reintroduce these subsidies, much to the anger of environmental campaigners.

Authorities responded by deploying water cannons in an attempt to disperse the protesters, but several demonstrators were detained – though police have yet to release the exact number.

But the message from Extinction Rebellion couldn’t be clearer: The fight for the planet’s future is heating up, and they’re not backing down any time soon.

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The ‘forgotten issue’ which has gone under the radar somewhat remains a stark threat to the health of many citizens throughout Europe, and a handful of countries in particular. Air pollution was the sole cause of around 239,000 deaths across the continent last year, as the European Commission aims to tackle the silent killer head on. Read on to find out which countries are at most risk.

Strict WHO guidelines sees all of Europe fail to meet criteria

The guidelines set out in 2021 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) dictated a much lower threshold than ever before for acceptable yearly concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which includes dust, exhaust fumes and smoke, as scientists are now discovering that much less amounts of air pollution can still pose a significant risk to public health.

Pollution from these sources stands as a risk for lung cancer, heart and respiratory diseases such as stroke, and even detrimental birth defects, with many cases of health tragedies possibly never linked to this deadly threat.

The organisation found that all countries in Europe fail to meet the required threshold, with certain European nations seeing many more deaths than others due to this causal factor. North Macedonia suffers the most deaths, followed by Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Montenegro. Northern Italy, Poland, and the Czech Republic all see elevated mortality rates due to PM2.5, and this is because of an influx in residentially-sourced pollution, which includes agricultural use. 

Poorer areas in Europe see most air pollution deaths

In such areas where poverty is a damning issue, coal is still being burned to heat up homes, and this also massively contributes to the rate of mortality. A recent report from the European Commission in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed the damning statistics, putting citizens of these areas, and the rest of Europe, back on high alert.

Many are led to believe that environmentally-friendly introductions to city development can only be beneficial, but studies from the report also suggest that green spaces can have a negative impact. 

NO2 mortality, which mainly arises in areas where there is the most congestion in regard to traffic, and fumes coming directly from factories, is highest in major cities throughout western and southern Europe.

“The biggest divide in Europe we see is east and west, [and this] aligns very much with GDP and the socioeconomic backgrounds of the two regions” commented Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, a professor in Environmental Epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen, and a member of the European Respiratory Society’s Environment and Health Committee.

Citizens can take their own government to court if they do not comply with air pollution standards

In December 2024, WHO upped their air quality rules further and aimed to clamp down on flailing EU nations who do not comply to the standards required to maintain safe public health, urging its member states to keep a close eye on levels of pollutants such as black carbon, ammonia, as well as NO2 and PM2.5. 

The new initiative also allows citizens of impacted countries to have the right to take their own government to court if it cannot fulfil the new requests and curb deaths related to air pollution. The European Commission remains positive that change can swiftly be enacted, promising to reduce deaths from air pollution by 55% by 2030.

Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, the director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health’s Urban Planning, Environment and Health Initiative told Euronews Health: “The plan is one of the biggest public health interventions for a generation.”

Countries are taking positive strides forward in light of this news, however, with Denmark most notably aiming to become the world’s first country to propose a carbon tax on livestock farming in 2030.

As science’s advancements in the ability to thoroughly research such matters and recognise the real impact of health threats such as air pollution become catalysed, due in part to the enhancement of technological software such as AI, the challenge has been placed right in front of EU’s member states. 

Andersen concluded: “We have reduced the air pollution, and we know how to and a lot of countries are leading. But there are new challenges coming, so we need to regulate air pollution – the old problem.”

Find all the latest breaking stories as they happen across Europe here, with Euro Weekly News. 

Even though he hasn’t formally taken up the office of US President, Donald Trump already has plenty to say and is certainly rattling a few cages across Europe.

Former Norwegian Prime Minister and Head of NATO Jens Stoltenberg advises Norwegian businesses on how to deal with Donald Trump

One man who seems to have a very good idea of how to deal with the idiosyncratic returning president is former Norwegian Prime Minister and long serving Head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg and he has shared his view on how best to achieve the best results when dealing with President Trump.

He shared his opinion at a recent Oslo based conference hosted by Norway’s national employers’ organization NHO and confirmed that he had been invited to the upcoming inauguration of the president which will take place in Washington DC on Monday January 20.

Stoltenberg advises that to deal with Donald Trump you need to flatter him and massage his ego

Without going as far as agreeing with many Norwegian business leaders who consider the President Designate an out of control imperialist, Stoltenberg certainly believes that the way to deal with him is be engaging as well as wherever possible flattering his ego without giving in to his demands.

The matter of annexation of Greenland has made Norwegian politicians fear for the area of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, which Norway administers under an international treaty.

At the end of the day, no-one knows whether some of the more outrageous comments made by Donald Trump prior to becoming president are simply made to ‘unbalance’ NATO allies in Europe and around the world and that when he does become president, some of them will simply disappear, such as the claim that Canada should become the US 51^st State.

When looked at clinically, the demand for Greenland, is not really that different from the Russian demand for Ukraine although it seems hardly likely that the USA will invade the world’s largest island especially as Greenland is part of the NATO family due to its relationship with Denmark.