The climate protection movement Fridays for Future wants to prevent natural gas from being extracted near the North Sea island of Borkum. Climate and massive environmental damage in the Wadden Sea are to be expected, criticize the climate activists in an open letter to the red-green state government of Lower Saxony and the Green federal ministers Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, which was made available to the German Press Agency. “We appeal to you: End the nightmare of impending gas extraction off the island of Borkum!” The permits required for the extraction must be blocked.
The Dutch energy company One-Dyas plans to extract natural gas from a field off the islands of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog – from depths of up to four kilometers. For this purpose, a production platform is to be built on Dutch territory. Production is to begin in December in both Dutch and German territories, near the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park. One-Dyas plans to produce natural gas over a period of 10 to 35 years.
The installation of the drilling platform was supposed to begin last week, but around 20 Greenpeace activists initially prevented this with boats and drifting islands.
Permits from the Netherlands and Germany are required for natural gas production. The Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands has already granted the license. However, proceedings are pending against this before the highest Dutch court. On the German side, the approval process is underway at the Lower Saxony State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG).
Is the World Heritage status at risk of being revoked?
Fridays for Future emphasizes that the federal and state governments have committed to phasing out fossil fuels. In the coalition agreement in Lower Saxony, the island of Borkum is even explicitly mentioned as being particularly worthy of protection. “And now you are planning to allow a new gas field off the coast? With all due respect: what kind of world do you live in?” write the climate activists.
The planned production platform cannot contribute to energy security because the gas produced off Borkum would cover a maximum of one percent of Germany’s annual demand. At the same time, however, similar projects have already resulted in subsidence, earthquakes and water pollution. UNESCO has already warned that the extraction of oil and gas could lead to the loss of World Heritage status.