Greta Thunberg detained twice by police during Extinction Rebellion ...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been detained twice by police at a demonstration held by Extinction Rebellion in the Netherlands.

The protest was held against Dutch subsidies and tax breaks given to companies linked to fossil fuel industries.

Ms Thunberg was initially detained and held for a short time by local police along with dozens of other protesters who tried to block a major highway into The Hague on Saturday.

Greta Thunberg was initially driven off in a bus after joining protestors who blocked a road during a climate protest by Extinction Rebellion near the Dutch parliament.(AP Photo: Peter Dejong)

After she was released she quickly rejoined a small group of protesters blocking a different road leading to a railway station.

There, she was detained a second time and driven off in a police van.

Before she was detained she told journalists she was protesting because the world is facing an existential crisis.

"We are in a planetary emergency and we are not going to stand by and let people lose their lives and livelihood and be forced to become climate refugees when we can do something," Ms Thunberg said.

Activists had been trying to block the nearby A12 highway. That road has been blocked for several hours dozens of times in recent months by activists demanding an end to all subsidies for the use of fossil fuels.

Greta Thunberg's detention in the Netherlands comes after receiving fines  in Sweden and the UK for civil disobedience in connection with protests.(AP Photo: Peter Dejong)

At previous protests, police drove detained protesters to another part of town, where they were released without further consequences.

Local police would not comment on individual cases but said everyone who tried to block roads was detained.

Spokesperson Marieke Maas said police could not say how many people were arrested.

Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked the highway that runs past the temporary home of the Dutch parliament more than 30 times to protest the subsidies.

Reuters/AP/ABC