Greenpeace Climbers Scale EU Parliament Over Gas
Activists from Greenpeace Belgium scaled one of the European Parliament’s buildings in Brussels on Wednesday morning, unfurling banners and using fake smoke to simulate fire in a dramatic protest against fossil gas and soaring energy bills. The action, staged the day before a European Council summit, was organised under the “People vs Gas” coalition and drew participants from 17 countries, according to Greenpeace’s European Unit.
The climbers hung banners reading “Burning gas ruins Europe” and “Wars, poverty, climate crisis: burning gas steals our future.” The demonstration unfolded calmly: about ten activists were detained on Place du Luxembourg around 07:00 but were not formally arrested and were released after roughly an hour, The Brussels Times reported. At least four climbers were positioned about 10 metres above the ground, with no clashes reported.
A Protest on the Eve of a Summit
The timing was deliberate. EU heads of state and government were due to meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss European competitiveness and energy prices, including short-term measures to cushion the impact of high costs on citizens and businesses and a longer-term strategy to reduce the bloc’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Beyond the climbers, Extinction Rebellion Belgium unfurled a banner inside the European Parliament reading “Gas kills,” while the Red Rebels protest group staged a performance on Place du Luxembourg symbolising what organisers described as the loss and destruction caused by fossil-fueled climate breakdown.
Joining forces as the “People vs Gas” coalition, the groups demanded a phase-out of fossil gas by 2035, an accelerated shift to renewable energy, and a short-term emergency plan to shield citizens from rising energy costs — financed in part by taxing oil and gas company profits. They also called for a break with fossil gas lobbies.
The Cost of Gas
To underline the stakes, Greenpeace Belgium released new estimates that higher energy prices cost EU households an extra 61.5 billion euros between March and August 2026 compared with the same months in 2021 — an additional 50 euros per month per household on average across the EU.
“Oil and gas companies are making obscene profits fueling wars, climate destruction and spiking people’s energy bills, and it’s time to put a stop to it,” said Thomas Gelin, a Greenpeace EU climate and energy campaigner. “Burning gas ruined Europe this summer, with record-breaking temperatures killing thousands, and it threatens to financially ruin Europe again as household bills go through the roof this winter.”
Greenpeace Belgium spokesperson Joeri Thijs struck a similar note, telling La Libre Belgique that “we cannot stand idly by while oil and gas companies rake in record profits thanks to wars and destruction.”
Nebe, of Extinction Rebellion Belgium, argued that “European political leaders have a responsibility to protect the population,” calling for a rupture with fossil gas lobbies and a faster transition to “reliable and affordable renewable energy.”
A Continent Still Hooked on Gas
The protest lands amid a difficult moment for EU energy policy. Four-and-a-half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the bloc is still struggling to fully wean itself off Russian gas, having increased imports from the United States and sought new supplies from Canada. Greenpeace and its allies warn that continued fossil fuel reliance will deepen the cost-of-living crisis, citing research that oil and gas prices are a main driver of inflation.
European lawmakers are also preparing to grapple with revisions to EU rules on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and gas storage, as well as national contributions to the bloc’s joint climate targets — decisions that will test how quickly Europe can move away from the fuels the activists targeted.
Greenpeace regularly uses climbers to display messages on large buildings, bridges and other structures, L’Avenir noted. Wednesday’s action followed earlier Greenpeace protests in Belgium — including a banner at the federal parliament in September warning that “our house is on fire.”
What’s Next
As the banners came down and the climbers descended, the political argument they carried remains unresolved. With the European Council set to weigh both relief for households and the bloc’s long-term energy strategy, the People vs Gas coalition is pressing leaders to choose speed over half-measures. Whether the summit yields concrete commitments on phasing out fossil gas — or merely more discussion — will determine whether Wednesday’s spectacle becomes a turning point or a footnote.