Activists Greenpeace have targeted Croatia new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in a protest calling for European Union leaders to move away from the use of fossil gas.
Greenpeace Central Eastern Europe (CEE) in inflatables painted the words "Climate killer" along the hull of the 140,000-cbm LNG Croatia (built 2005) which is moored off Krk Island.
The group said the protest — one of the first instances of climate action involving an LNG vessel — is designed to highlight the climate threats of expanding gas infrastructure.
It coincided with a visit by the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise to the Adriatic to promote the European Citizen Initiative petition that calls for a ban on fossil fuel advertising.
LNG Croatia, which took in its first commercial import cargo on 1 January, was put in place with EU funding.
Greenpeace said the Croatian government plans to expand its fossil gas infrastructure and wants EU funding to pay for it.
The group said that as European leaders are about to meet in Brussels to discuss a surge in gas prices its protest was to highlight that fossil gas is a false solution to reduce emissions.
The fossil fuel industry tells us that fossil gas is a safe solution for the climate. This is a lie
Joanna Flisowska
"Less than two weeks to go until COP26, Europe is buzzing with how to further increase dependence on fossil gas that would lock us into more emissions, in other words, pushing us further towards the climate catastrophe, when we so urgently need to move away from fossil fuels," Greenpeace CEE European gas campaigner Joanna Flisowska said.
She accused the fossil gas lobby of "pocketing" from destroying the climate.
"Public money must stop being thrown down the drain to fund new fossil gas infrastructure. All the new investments need to focus on renewables, energy efficiency and storage solutions."
Greenpeace said studies confirm the entire fossil gas supply chain is unavoidably linked with uncontrolled methane emissions.
"The fossil fuel industry tells us that fossil gas is a safe solution for the climate. This is a lie," Flisowska said. "Gas is fuelling the climate crisis just like coal and oil."
The campaigner said the fossil gas industry promotes "false solutions" and uses propaganda to distract and mislead the public with a clear aim to "delay a green and just transition".
"We're here today to lift the veil on an industry that has 'climate killer' written all over it and call for the move away from fossil gas," said Flisowska.
The group referenced a report by Greenpeace Netherlands "Words Vs Actions" which says fossil gas is the EU's second largest source of carbon emissions, surpassing coal.
