Extinction Rebellion turns pond in front of Brussels expo into a ‘bloodbath’, in protest against the Bedex arms fair. ‘The Arizona government is selling our future in these halls’

Brussels, 12 March 2026 - As a visual protest against the Bedex arms fair taking place in the iconic Brussels expo halls from Thursday until Saturday, activists from climate movement Extinction Rebellion (XR) have coloured* one of the big ponds in front of the building red, resembling a bloodbath, to ‘show people what our future looks like as long as we allow our leaders to keep promoting war and refuse to stop the collapse of our climate systems’.

XR’s action takes place in the midst of a militarization spree in Europe, where governments everywhere, including the Belgian Arizona government, are making austerity cuts worth tens of billions of euros to pay for extra military spending to achieve the new NATO norm of 3.5% GDP.

Independent estimates say that if Europe achieves 3.5% GDP spending on the military, the continent’s CO2 emissions will rise by 12%. This is roughly a fifth of all its emissions reduction since 1990. In terms of annual greenhouse gas emissions, conservative estimates are that it would be more than adding the annual emissions of a medium-sized EU Member State like Portugal, undermining any European effort to achieve its stated climate goals.

Activist Sacha explains: ‘Our governments have failed us. We have already broken the 1.5C limit of global warming over the past 3 years. The Paris targets are dead, and we have entered a new phase of deadly climate insecurity, threatening our food systems. And what is the new plan, even supported by many ‘green’ parties? To buy more weapons. Instead of offering young people a future, our leaders prefer to send them to war. Billions and billions of euros more for weapons, while there is apparently no money for a real green transition. Weapons will not give us security. We cannot shoot the rising seas, and we cannot eat bombs.’

‘Weapons are made to kill other people, this much people know. The reality of the climate crisis however, is that the climate and nature impacts of military spending and weapons production also contribute to our collective climate suicide. We can never live in security as long as wars and climate chaos destroy the earth.’

The action and the arms fair also coincide with the national day of strikes by Belgium’s biggest trade unions against the Arizona government’s austerity politics.

XR: ‘Our action is a show of solidarity and common struggle with the unions. Despite all the rhetoric, the Arizona government is not cutting back on social spending to balance the budget, but to increase the military budget. They’re taking money out of people’s pockets to buy more weapons from these same arms companies at Bedex today, many of which still profitting off of the genocide on Palestinians.’

The visual protest is part of a campaign to ban fossil fuel and ecocidal corporate lobbying in Europe, similar to the ban on tobacco lobbying. Previous actions have targeted the Brussels offices of the European arms lobby of Aerospace Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) and the European Chemical Industry lobby group Cefic.

* Note: the material used to change the colour of the pond is environmentally friendly and non-toxic, safe for fish, birds and other wildlife, and free of pesticides and herbicides.