Greenpeace activists stage anti-coal protest in Denmark

Nearly 30 Greenpeace activists on Thursday blocked the unloading of coal from a Panama-flagged cargo ship for the second day to protest the fuel's destructive effect on the climate, the group said.

"Eight of them spent the night on one of the two giant cranes of the (Enstedvaerket) power plant while 20 others tied themselves to the coal conveyor belt so it could not be taken to the plant," Christina Koll of Greenpeace told AFP.

The Greenpeace action "is to protest the use of polluting coal in Denmark, a country that prides itself in spearheading the fight for the environment", she said.

Police did not act Thursday to remove the demonstrators. On Wednesday they briefly detained two Greenpeace militants for trespassing.

Greenpeace says the Enstedvaerket plant which is owned by Danish state company DONG Energy burns 800,000 tonnes of coal every year, producing 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, a gas contributing to global warming.

According to Greenpeace, Denmark, a country of just 5.5 million inhabitants, is the world's fifth largest importer of coal, importing and burning 8.3 tonnes of the fuel on average every year, and causing 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Greenpeace action began on Tuesday when activists unsuccessfully tried to board the 300-metre (985-foot) Hanjin Imbari in the Baltic Sea as it carried a load of South African coal to the Enstedvaerket coal plant in Aabenraa in southwestern Denmark.

The action intentionally coincided with this week's United Nations climate talks in Poznan, Poland, as well as with European Union negotiations on legislation to combat global warming, Greenpeace said.

Tarjei Haaland, Greenpeace Nordic's climate and energy campaigner, said Denmark would late next year host a UN climate change conference, which he described as "the most important climate negotiations the world has ever undertaken.

"Denmark must take the lead and quit coal," he said.