ERKELENZ (dpa-AFX) - Several chairmen of major environmental organizations plan to visit the protest village of Lützerath on the edge of the Rhenish open-cast lignite mine on Thursday (Jan. 12). Among them are, for example, Greenpeace head Martin Kaiser, BUND federal chairman Olaf Bandt and Campact chairman Christoph Bautz, Fridays for Future announced. "The village is still standing, and above all the coal is still under Lützerath," said climate activist Luisa Neubauer, who also plans to come to Lützerath again. "As long as it is there, new negotiations can start at any time. But until then, we need great civil society support."

The energy company RWE wants to demolish the Lützerath settlement in order to excavate the coal underneath. Several hundred climate activists want to prevent this. It is expected that the eviction could start as early as Wednesday./cd/DP/jha