(London) Several environmental organisations carried out actions targeting airports in Europe on Wednesday morning, leading to the arrest of nine activists from the British group Just Stop Oil, which campaigns for the end of fossil fuels by 2030, at Heathrow.
According to Just Stop Oil, its activists were arrested at two different locations on a road near London airport. The group posted a video on the social network X showing activists on bikes being apprehended by police, who said they arrested nine people.
The airport suffered no disruption, according to a Heathrow spokesperson.
“We refuse to die for fossil fuels. Continually burning oil, gas and coal, as we pass irreversible tipping points that threaten to send our climate out of control in a rapidly accelerating manner, jeopardizes 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.
Several actions have been carried out at European airports, sometimes leading to disruptions, details a separate press release 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
Although flights have resumed, delays and cancellations are to be expected during the day, the airport said on its website.
According to Oil Kills, three activists 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 statement said.
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. Five people were arrested in Zurich, the statement said.
Finally, four activists spread an orange substance in the lobby of Vienna airport, while two others delayed the departure of a flight to Rome by refusing to be seated before takeoff while talking about global warming, according to the Austrian branch of the Last Generation movement.
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.