Airport targeted by environment protesters again
CLIMATE activists gathered outside Farnborough Airport on Saturday, protesting against the use of private jets ahead of the COP26 in Glasgow this week.
The demonstration comes just weeks after Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked all three entrances to the airport in an action against high levels of CO2 that private flights emit per passenger.
XR Fleet, Farnborough, Camberley & Aldershot revealed plans of their protest last week. The protesters spent the afternoon moving from one airport gate to the next, blocking each one in turn.
A spokesman for the group said: “At the end of the protest we gathered at the main gate. Some of the rebels and security people chatted in a friendly way together.
“We’re not against the people who use or work at the airport. We’re all on the same planet and our families will all suffer equally if we don’t take the climate emergency seriously.”
One of the activists, called Bob, said he was attending the protest for the sake of his grandchildren. A Tweet by the protest group said: “They [the children] are young enough to be able to live until the see the end of the century. If COP26 is not a success, he [Bob] worries what will happen to them”.
A spokesman for Hampshire
Constabulary said on Saturday: “We are aware of a protest taking place outside Farnborough Airport today. Officers are not currently at the scene, however we will work to ensure the health and safety of people at the location, as well as working to minimise the impact on the local community if necessary.
“Everyone has the right to free speech and protest. We have a long history of facilitating peaceful protest and upholding the right to protest, while balancing it with the rights of others, keeping the public safe, preventing crime and disorder, and seeking to minimise disruption.”
COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, is being held in Scotland to bring delegates from various countries together as they work in agreement toward the goals set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change.