Five activists enter Royal Palace grounds to protest climate inaction

A handful of climate activists entered the Royal Palace garden grounds on Monday morning to draw attention to political inaction on climate change.

In a statement later posted to social media, the activists said they had wanted to hand-deliver a letter to King Philippe inviting him to declare a “symbolic state of climatic emergency”.

The activists were all members of the radical climate organisation Extinction Rebellion Belgium. They managed to climb over the fences of the Royal Palace after making their way from the Parc de Bruxelles to the Place des Palais.

The activists were quickly apprehended by police officers and escorted from the grounds. They were also given fines.

The activists’ protest action was filmed and livestreamed via Facebook. The protest was meant to draw attention to another protest later this month – a “Royal Rebellion” on October 12, a mass non-violent civil disobedience action to take place in the gardens of the Royal Palace.

Written by Linda A. Thompson

Photo courtesy Extinction Rebellion Belgium