Actions at gas fields – Scientist Rebellion Netherlands

As part of the national ‘Turn off the gas tap!’ (Draai de gaskraan dicht!) campaign, Extinction Rebellion and Scientist Rebellion staged a protest at the Waalwijk Noord gas field on Saturday 11 July 2026. For three hours, we occupied the gas field and made our message loud and clear: with 20,000 extra deaths in Europe during the last heatwave, it is unacceptable to extend gas extraction in Brabant by a further three years. ¹

The government and the Canadian fossil fuel company Vermillion must immediately stop fuelling the climate crisis any further. Whilst we sought relief from the heat in the shade of the silo filled with fire-fighting water – how fitting – the mayor of Waalwijk concluded that our presence – not the gas extraction itself – was unsafe and decided to proceed with the arrests of six protesters.

As well as the protest in Waalwijk, demonstrations also took place elsewhere in the Netherlands: in Woerden, near the proposed Papekop gas field where Vermillion also intends to drill for gas: ² ³
And in Uithuizen, near the gas processing plant operated by Noordzeegas Transport. ⁴ New gas fields are even being drilled in the North Sea, against which Scientist Rebellion has been campaigning since 2022.

New gas drilling is not compatible with the energy transition needed to achieve the Netherlands’ climate targets. ⁵ The plans in the coalition agreement for a safe climate fall far short of what is required. We are currently exceeding the 1.5-degree warming threshold, yet there is no mention anywhere of closing the 84 gas drilling sites in the Netherlands. We would need far less gas if we were to fully commit to reducing energy demand and to fully renewable energy from solar and wind.

Furthermore, three years after the parliamentary inquiry into earthquake damage in Groningen, a humane and generous compensation process is still nowhere to be seen. It is only right that local action groups such as ‘Don’t Let Woerden Down’ and ‘Stop Gas Extraction in Loon op Zand’ are making their voices heard: local communities are often left to bear the harmful consequences of gas extraction. We stand in solidarity with them: compensation must be prioritised and the gas tap must be turned off!

See also: Posts about SR’s involvement in XR gas protests:

https://social.rebellion.global/@ScientistRebellion_NL/116902070998452718
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7481730803861798912
https://www.instagram.com/p/DaqE9uPCnbD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==