On Saturday afternoon, 13 December, more than 200 activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Scientist Rebellion (SR) disrupted the Masters Expo at the RAI, formerly known as the Millionaires Fair. They demonstrated against this party for the super-rich with the message: the super-rich cost too much. The activists are calling for a redistribution of wealth. By taxing the super-rich and their possessions more fairly, money will be freed up to enrich society and the planet.
XR spokesperson Niels Moek (social studies teacher): ‘It is bizarre that this luxury party is still taking place in 2025, while the world is struggling with the consequences of the climate crisis, many people in the Netherlands cannot find affordable housing, and the number of children growing up in poverty in the Netherlands is only increasing.’
The activists will gather on the VIP day of the Masters Expo at the RAI exhibition centre for a diverse programme of speakers, music and theatre. Joseph Wilde-Ramsing from the SOMO research institute will give a speech on reclaiming wealth so that it can be used for climate compensation and climate justice. Kitty Jong, until recently vice-chair of the FNV trade union, called for more solidarity with people who are struggling to make ends meet. Between performances, the playful character D.J. Trömp provides commentary and calls for more greatness.
Around 50 activists from Extinction Rebellion and Scientist Rebellion entered the Masters Expo through emergency doors, after which they held a peaceful sit-in in the entrance hall and released balloons with alarms in the convention hall. During this non-violent action, peaceful protesters were dealt with harshly by the event’s private security. Activists who offered no resistance and posed no threat were grabbed, pushed and beaten in order to remove them. Several protesters were injured in the process. XR and SR call the violence unacceptable and emphasise that their action was entirely peaceful.
Extinction Rebellion and Scientist Rebellion argue that extreme wealth is incompatible with a healthy climate and a fair society. Money that is currently tied up in shares and real estate owned by a small group of super-rich individuals should benefit society as a whole and the liveability of the planet. That is why XR and SR are demanding an immediate end to the Masters Expo, where the super-rich celebrate inequality, power and pollution with their self-proclaimed ‘community of greatness’.
SR spokesperson Nina Hertogs (scientist): ‘We must stop glorifying extreme wealth. That wealth is harmful and no one needs that much money.’
Recent research in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that the super-rich contribute by far the most to the climate crisis [1]. Calculations show that if everyone emitted as much as the richest 0.1% of individuals, the Earth would now be 12.1 C warmer [2]. This is due to their wasteful lifestyles with unnecessary emissions from, for example, private jets, luxury villas and yachts. But their investments in highly polluting companies are also fuelling the climate crisis [2].
The World Inequality Report 2026 shows that the richest 0.001% of the world’s population has three times as much income and wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population combined [3]. Oxfam showed that half of the world’s population lives below the poverty line, while the richest 100 individuals earned $100 million per day in 2024 [4].
The demonstration against the Masters Expo is part of a longer-running campaign by XR and SR for the redistribution of wealth. With this campaign, the activists are demanding a limit of 10 million euros on personal wealth. They are also demanding a carbon wealth tax, whereby polluting assets are taxed more heavily [5, 6]. This money should be used to enrich society and the planet.
With the action against the Masters Expo, XR and SR want to show that society can no longer afford the super-rich and their extravagant parties and that it is time for a fair distribution of wealth.
Sources
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00955-z
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02325-x?fromPaywallRec=false
[3] https://wir2026.wid.world/
[4] https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/takers-not-makers-621668/
[5] https://cedelft.eu/publications/green-and-progressive-tax-proposals-for-the-netherlands/
[6] https://astrapublishinghouse.com/product/limitarianism-9781662601842/