Just Stop Oil hints at further action to disrupt air travel in future
James ChappleJust Stop Oil has hinted at further action to disrupt air travel this summer, describing its protest at Stansted last week – which saw activists spray two private jets with orange paint – as a "prelude".
Citing a source within the climate group, The Times reports Just Stop Oil is poised to embark on a "sustained period of action" which will, reportedly, see its focus shift to airports. It has also laid down a direct challenge to the incoming government.
“Private jets are obviously mental for emissions and most people would agree they need to stop," said the source cited by The Times following the incident at Stansted on Thursday (20 June).
"It’s a wake-up call for government that we need big radical changes," they continued. "If this incoming government doesn’t get us on war footing then we’re not going to have anywhere to fly to."
The group has praised Labour’s commitment not to issue new oil and gas licences in the North Sea should it come to power next month.
It comes after Just Stop Oil wrote to the leaders of the UK’s main political parties urging them to sign a legally binding "fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty", and warning of "a new campaign of civil resistance" if their calls fell on deaf ears.
At around 5am on Thursday, two Just Stop Oil protesters – Cole Macdonald, 22, and Jennifer Kowalski, 28 – entered the private airfield at Stansted and painted two private jets with orange paint. The airfield is reportedly where Taylor Swift’s private jet has been stationed during her UK tour dates.
"We’re living in two worlds: one where billionaires live in luxury, able to fly in private jets away from the other, where unliveable conditions are being imposed on countless millions," said Macdonald.
Kowalski, a former sustainability manager, added: "Over the years, I’ve had to realise that even working in sustainability provides me with essentially no ability to make the necessary changes to prevent the complete collapse of our natural systems. I have to take desperate measures to make my voice heard."
Without naming any specific targets, Just Stop Oil said: "This summer, areas of key importance to the fossil fuel economy will be declared sites of civil resistance around the world."
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