Climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg has joined thousands of people demonstrating against the demolition of a village in western Germany to make way for the expansion of a coal mine.

The Swedish activist joined fellow protesters against the clearance of Luetzerath, walking through the nearby village of Keyenberg and past muddy fields amid persistent rain.

Protesters chanted “Every village stays” and “You are not alone”.

On the sidelines of the protest, police said people had broken through their barriers, with some getting into the Garzweiler coal mine.

Germany Coal Mine Protests
People attend a protest rally at the Garzweiler opencast mine (AP)

As the demonstration took place, the clearance of Luetzerath was well advanced.

The operation to evict climate activists holed up in the village kicked off on Wednesday morning. In the first three days of the operation, police said that about 470 people had left the site, 320 of them voluntarily.

They said on Friday afternoon that there were no longer any activists in the remaining buildings or on their roofs.

German news agency dpa reported that they said Saturday they still had to tackle 15 “structures” such as tree houses and were trying to get into a tunnel in which two people were believed to be holed up.

Work to demolish buildings is already under way.

Germany Coal Protest
Police officers push back demonstrators on the edge of the opencast lignite mine Garzweiler at the village Luetzerath (dpa via AP)

Luetzerath has become a cause celebre for critics of Germany’s climate efforts.

Environmentalists say bulldozing the village to expand the Garzweiler mine would result in huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

The government and utility company RWE argue the coal is needed to ensure Germany’s energy security.

The regional and national governments, both of which include the environmentalist Green party, reached a deal with RWE last year allowing it to destroy the abandoned village in return for ending coal use by 2030, rather than 2038.

Speakers at Saturday’s demonstration assailed the Greens, whose leaders argue that the deal fulfils many of the environmentalists’ demands and saved five other villages from demolition.

“It’s very weird to see the German government, including the Green party, make deals and compromise with companies like RWE, with fossil fuel companies, when they should rather be held accountable for all the damage and destruction they have caused,” Thunberg said.

“My message to the German government is that they should stop what’s happening here immediately, stop the destruction, and ensure climate justice for everyone.”