(London) Several environmental organisations carried out actions against airports in Europe on Wednesday morning, which notably led to the arrest in the United Kingdom of ten activists from Just Stop Oil, a British group campaigning for the end of fossil fuels by 2030.
According to London police, seven people were arrested at London’s Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest, and three others at other locations. All remain in custody on suspicion of “conspiring to interfere with key national infrastructure.”
Without the arrests, “flights would have been suspended, affecting thousands of passengers,” including “holidaying families,” as well as many businesses, Ian Howells, the police chief who led the operation, said in a statement. “Anyone who compromises the security of our airports will face the full force of the law.”
In late June, Scotland Yard announced that it had foiled plans by Just Stop Oil to disrupt operations at British airports, arresting 27 people. The group posted a video on the social network X showing activists on bikes being apprehended by police outside Heathrow Airport, who said they had not suffered any disruption.
” Danger ”
“Continued burning of oil, gas and coal as we pass irreversible tipping points that threaten to send our climate out of control in a rapidly accelerating manner is jeopardizing the stability upon which our entire society depends,” a Just Stop Oil spokesperson said in a statement.
“Our political leaders must act to protect our people by working together with other countries to establish a legally binding treaty to stop the extraction” and use of fossil fuels by 2030, the same source added.
Actions have been carried out at several European airports, sometimes causing disruption, according to a separate statement sent by Just Stop Oil on behalf of the Oil Kills group.
According to the report, activists from Letzte Generation managed to get close to the runways after cutting through fences at Cologne airport (Germany) in the early morning, before sticking to the tarmac, causing a four-hour traffic disruption.
Record heat
Oil Kills added that three activists had entered the tarmac at Oslo airport after cutting through a fence and sitting down near the runways. They were quickly removed by police, who made no arrests, the group noted.
In Finland, nine activists briefly blocked security checks at Helsinki airport, while in Barcelona, Spain, five activists were intercepted before they could stick to the tarmac as they intended to do, according to Oil Kills. In Switzerland, activists blocked access roads to airports in Zurich and Geneva.
Finally, four activists spread an orange substance in the hall of Vienna airport, while two others delayed the departure of a plane to Rome by refusing to sit down before take-off while talking about global warming, the Austrian branch of the Last Generation movement reported.
The actions came two days after what was the hottest day ever recorded worldwide since records began in 1940, with an average temperature of 17.15°C, beating the previous record set the day before, according to the European Copernicus network.
In the UK, four members of Just Stop Oil were recently sentenced to four and five years in prison for organising a motorway blockade and have received support from more than 1,200 celebrities, artists, sportspeople and academics who have denounced the “injustice” of their sentences.