Greenpeace banner on the European Parliament, 'burning gas ruins Europe'

An 80 meter long banner opened on the European Parliament with the message "Burning gas ruins Europe" and a second with the writing "Wars, poverty, climate crisis: burning gas steals our future", with artificial smoke to simulate a fire.

At the same time, other actions took place outside and inside the European Parliament building.

This is how dozens of activists from 17 different countries, including Italy, mobilized today in Brussels to ask European institutions to put an end to dependence on fossil gas and protect people from rising energy costs.

The peaceful protest action, promoted as part of the "People vs Gas" coalition and supported among others by Greenpeace Belgium and Extinction Rebellion Belgium, comes as European institutions are called upon to make crucial decisions on the energy future of the European Union in the coming weeks.

Today Greenpeace Belgium also published a new analysis according to which between March and August 2026, in just six months, the increase in energy prices resulted in an average additional expense of around 300 euros for each household in the European Union compared to 2021, i.e. before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In total, this represents an increase of €61.5 billion in the cost of energy consumed in European homes compared to the same period in 2021.

The pressure has not eased even in the last year: compared to 2025 prices, EU households incurred an additional 5.35 billion euros in energy costs between March and August 2026.

And this despite consumption having decreased: according to Greenpeace, between 2021 and 2024 the energy consumption of European families fell by 13%.