If Judge Hehir thought that giving draconian prison sentences to peaceful protesters would deter climate action, it seems he was as misguided about that as he appears to be over the severity of the crisis itself.
Less than a week after five Just Stop Oil activists were jailed for 21 years between them for planning the M25 gantry protests of 2022, today saw activists in several countries around the world take part in an ambitious plan to ground aviation on a large scale.
It was the launch of a new international network targeting the fossil fuel industry and calling for our governments to work together to sign an international Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out coal, oil and gas by 2030.
Watch our Real Media interview with Tzeporah Bermann, Global Chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative.
Today’s initial action was thwarted to some extent, but in Germany the Cologne Bonn airport was hardest hit, with long delays and cancellations after several LetzteGeneration activists managed to glue on to one of the main take-off runways, remaining there for more than four hours.
A flight was delayed by activists until they were dragged off a plane at Austria’s Vienna airport after making speeches and refusing to sit down. Others there also spilled orange paint at Terminal Three.
In the UK an attempt at a similar action was intercepted by police at Heathrow airport this morning, and seven people were arrested.
In Spain, activists managed to get as far as the taxiways at Barcelona airport, but were swiftly arrested.
In Norway, several people cut through fences and stopped flights by sitting next to a runway at Oslo Gardermoen airport.
In Helsinki, Finnish Extinction Rebellion supporters blocked security gates at Vantaa airport, and then later in the day returned to spray orange paint at the terminal building.
A similar action was carried out by Swedish and Danish XR activists at Malmö airport, and protesters disrupted Zurich and Geneva airports in Switzerland by blocking main approach roads.
In Canada, cars arriving at the departure area of Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport have been disrupted for nearly two hours after activists glued their hands to the road, and in the United States, a group of scientists held a protest at the Logan International airport.
Spokespeople for Oil Kills have warned that this is just the beginning of a major escalation in worldwide climate protests this summer.
