From Classrooms to Battlegrounds: Youth-Led "End Fossil" Movement Occupies Schools and Universities, Igniting a Flame for Climate and Social Justice
This month "End Fossil", a grassroots, mass youth-led movement, launched “May of Occupations”, with students worldwide occupying hundreds of schools and universities to end the fossil fuel era. By the 13th day of the campaign, occupations had already happened across 10 countries in Europe and Africa with 57 institutions occupied. Even now the number of occupations is still growing.
The "End Fossil" movement fights not only the fossil industry but fossil capitalism.
Their demand is to end fossils to achieve climate and social justice globally!
We, as democratic socialists, should align with this demand.
Despite the international agreements aimed at reducing carbon emissions, the competition for oil and gas, driven by the war in Ukraine, has contributed to a surge in coal usage. This has further exacerbated the global emissions crisis, with fossil fuel emissions reaching an unprecedented 36.6 billion tonnes in 2022, marking an all-time record. Additionally, an alarming 96% of producers are currently expanding their operations, signalling a concerning trend in the face of environmental commitments.
Despite the rhetoric, we know that the climate crisis is not caused by humanity but by the fossil-fueled, profit-driven capitalist system that dominates the global economy. This system prioritises the interests of corporations and wealthy individuals over the planet's and its inhabitants' well-being. Poverty and inequality characterising our era are as much environmental issues as they are social ones.
As modern socialists, we should realize that neither market-based sustainability nor top-down socialist productivist regimes of the past are the answer to the current crisis. Our future lies in the development of a democratic eco-socialist model that can reconcile ecological sustainability and economic democracy.
Environmentalism and egalitarianism projects belong together as movements towards a more just and sustainable world. They are both necessary to ensure an equitable and just future for all, whether fighting for renewable energy, protecting endangered species, or advocating for the rights of workers and marginalised communities.
End Fossil treats environmentalism and egalitarianism as two sides of the same coin. Just like this, student activists in the Erasmus University of Rotterdam have united the demand to end the fossil ties of the University with demands to a) end precarization of staff and professors of the University b) end inaccessibility for disabled people c) end student debt. Standing in the University halls and shouting “Uni! Occupied!” they are disrupting the normalcy of day-to-day oppression: of nature and of people.
How do we fight? End Fossil chooses to occupy. They turn school rooms, lecture halls, squares and public places into sites of communication, dissent, deliberation and politics. In German Universities, students occupied lecture rooms and invite people for discussions and lectures. In Portugal, two students barricaded themselves in the entryway of a Universidade de Lisboa faculty building and went on a 50 hours hunger strike. In Barcelona, the occupation of the Autonomous University of Barcelona lasted 8 days and has already brought results. The University agreed to 1) Create a mandatory module on the socio-environmental crisis beginning in 2025-2026; 2) Design a strategic plan to phase out funding from all fossil fuel companies.
Despite that, we know that in Dutch Universities (Erasmus, TU Delft, Eindhoven, Van Hall Larenstein, and Amsterdam University) students got evicted (at times forcefully) and even arrested. It is happening now and it has happened before. As “Amsterdam Autonomous Coalition” reports, in January, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) administration called in riot police to suppress a peaceful protest. The police arrived with a large force, including 50+ officers, shields, batons, vans, and a helicopter. The police destroyed rain tents and violently attacked people, leaving them bruised and injured. Several students were arrested and detained for up to 24 hours. This heavy-handed response from the university's management has instilled fear among students and staff who wish to exercise their right to protest.
It is no news, that everywhere both liberal and conservative media tries to silence eco-activists' demands by condemning and demonising the radical, “extra-parliamentary” political tactics. However, politics is not confined to the realm of formal institutions or exclusive decision-making processes. We argue that radical protests are a necessary response to the failures of representative democracy. Radical protests challenge the status quo and push for change that might not be achievable through conventional means. It can disrupt complacency and give a voice to the ones who are not always heard. Therefore, we are standing in solidarity with the activists, we praise and support politics that is antagonistic to policing! The call for change and justice must not be silenced or tossed aside.
In 2006, economist Edward Stern said, “Climate change is a result of the greatest market failure the world has seen”. We know that the market has already lost and failed us. It's our goal to demonstrate that. According to the UN, we have roughly 8 years to avoid dire climate scenarios. We must act boldly and urgently, using every means to fight for a sustainable future for all. The time for action is now, and the stakes could not be higher.