Dutch climate and human rights activists have shaken up the Port of Rotterdam. In the past month, they have blocked the port railway five times. The financial damages for rail freight are immense. RailFreight.com reached out to find out more about what motivates the protestors, what they think about rail and what they want from the sector.
The organisation behind the protests, “Geef Tegengas”, has a number of demands, ranging from the environment to the arms trade. Initially, it seemed that the group primarily targeted the Rotterdam Port Authority, but tells RailFreight.com that its message is addressed to the entire “logistics empire”.
“We are targeting the entirety of the logistics sector, whilst putting special emphasis on the Port Authority as a publicly owned company and the most important logistical hub of Europe”, the organisation explains.
Despite that, rail is still a target for Geef Tegengas. “We are holding the entire logistics sector accountable for the human rights violations and destruction of nature as a result of the globalisation the sector upholds. Rail companies are of course included in the logistics sector. Naturally, we also hold them accountable.”
Geef Tegengas provided RailFreight.com with a list of demands for rail.
“We demand the rail sector own up to their responsibility for what they transport. The demands for them are the same as for the Port of Rotterdam:
- Immediately stop transporting stuff for which human rights are violated
- Immediately implement a full weapons and trade embargo with Israel
- Make a realistic plan to ban the transport of all polluting goods and those goods linked to the destruction of nature (such as coal, PFAS, etc.) as soon as possible”
– Geef Tegengas spokesperson
Not an enemy of rail?
Perhaps surprisingly, considering the damage the protests are doing to rail freight, the protestors are not out to “kill” rail. In fact, they see the positives of it too.
‘We recognise the rail sector is the greenest mode of transportation. However, if the products they are transporting are not green, the sector is per definition not green”, Geef Tegengas says.
Other modes of transport will be targeted soon
“That being said, we do not want to hurt the switch from road to rail.” It seems that rail and the protestors can agree on at least one thing. “This was just phase one in our struggle against the logistics empire. Other modes of transport will be targeted soon (not to say the railway is off the hook).” So, it’s not over quite yet.
Rail important for a green future
Where rail and Geef Tegengas may disagree, however, is in their views on the future of logistics. A commonly heard vision for the future from the rail sector is that the tracks should facilitate long-distance transport. The road sector, in turn, takes responsibility for the first and last mile. Geef Tegengas seems to have a different vision.
“A truly green future means a future where we transport way less over way shorter distances than we do now. We think the rail freight sector could play a very important role in realising this future”, the organisation explains. “It is the greenest form of transport, and the limitations of the sector in terms of scalability and the restriction to land are very important in being able to stop overconsumption.”
That requires some self-reflection for rail freight: “This should be combined with a critical look of the sector at what and how much they transport. The sector can only ever be green if the total amount of stuff transported throughout the world shrinks and justice and ecology are put at the heart of our production and transport industries”, Geef Tegengas concludes.