The impositions of global “green capitalism” are not being pacifically accepted in all parts of Europe. Dutch farmers have started a popular insurrection against a bill that severely harms local agribusiness. The protests quickly spread, resulting in an international phenomenon, with episodes in other countries which have similar problems. With this, it is evident that the globalist pseudo-ecological agendas will not be so easily received in all countries and may face strong popular resistance.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte intends to impose a law to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 70-95% by 2030. This gaseous chemical compound comes mainly from the urine of cattle, pigs and other animals, but can also be observed in the use of ammonia in fertilizers. Dutch farmers claim that this measure will result in the extinction of at least 30% of all the country’s farms, considering that rural workers could be banned from using fertilizers and would have to reduce the number of animals in their own properties. The protesters’ dissatisfaction is also justified by the fact that nitrogen reduction measures are not imposed on other sectors of the economy, such as the airline industry – which makes the topic seem something like a specific attack against agribusiness, promoted by the environmentalist militants.
In fact, agribusiness is a very important sector of the Dutch economy. Currently, the country has about 55 thousand rural enterprises, totaling more than 95.4 billion euros. The instability of the sector has led to crises, tensions and instabilities. Farmers are protesting with full force, obstructing food supplies in cities, which is leading to shortages and rising prices. In several images and videos posted on internet it is possible to see supermarkets with empty shelves and people desperate in search of basic products.
The police reaction, as expected, has also been violent. Several arrests have already been made. In the second week of July agents went to the extreme of firing shots at the civilian population during some demonstrations, which has been the target of criticism by activists around the world. In addition, very strong blockades have been organized by the police, with cars forming barricades to prevent the insurgents from passing. The objective of the agents is to prevent the situation in the country from reaching absolute chaos, but in fact this seems to be getting closer and closer.
As there are similar bills in other countries, Dutch farmers have received international support. Farmers in Italy, Poland and Germany also joined the demonstrations started by the Dutch. As the pressure to increase ecological policies is a global agenda, with strong international incentives for the approval of measures against the emission of gases, the formation of a united front between rural workers from different countries is strengthened. These workers share in common the fear that the direct effects of such measures will lead to the bankruptcy of rural enterprises that guarantee the income of the European peasant population. On the other hand, the governments of such countries seem little concerned with such issues, being only committed to obeying the pro-green capitalism agendas imposed by international elites.
The most interesting point is that the topic has been largely ignored by Western media agencies. In the headlines of the main western media, the issues most talked about are the Ukrainian conflict and the political crises around the world, but the case of European farmers remains largely ignored, despite the episode representing a potential continental crisis. The objective of this strategy is quite simple: to omit from the public opinion the arguments of the farmers and to spread the image that the environmental laws are “positive for all”. Something similar happened with other events, such as the truck drivers’ protests in Canada, when popular clamor against sanitary impositions were ignored by media agencies in order to prevent “anti-vaccine riots” from occurring around the world.
In fact, what is happening is just another episode of confrontation between producers and ideological militants, where workers who generate material riches have their interests harmed by an agenda that, in the name of “ecology”, imposes norms that severely hurt the lives of ordinary citizens. It is obvious that environmental concerns are legitimate, but it also seems clear that supply chains cannot be abruptly interrupted and modified just to seek “ecologically correct” results. In the same way that there is a human interest in preserving natural resources for future generations, there is a human interest in feeding the current population – and providing food in a satisfactory way will become impossible if Western governments continue to promote the failure of rural enterprises.
This posture of submission by European governments to the agendas vertically imposed by the WEF will lead to a scenario of internal polarization with a strong potential for civil conflict, opposing producers against decision-makers and ideological militants. Either European governments act sovereignly, banning globalist agendas that do not interest their people, or the political crisis that currently affects the continent will continue for many years to come.
Lucas Leiroz is a researcher in Social Sciences at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; geopolitical consultant.