An Air France Boeing 777 has been vandalized by environmental protesters at Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport. A group of activists from Greenpeace bypassed security at the facility and gained access to the location of the Boeing 777, then proceeded to spray paint the aircraft green.
Greenpeace breaks into Charles de Gaulle
A team of activists from Greenpeace have bypassed security and gained access to a stored Air France Boeing 777 today, and are in the process of painting it green. The people, dressed in white overalls and wearing vests saying ‘greenwashing in progress’, erected ladders and used green spray paint on the fuselage of the aircraft.
The protesters documented the incident on social media, accompanied by a statement that read:
Direct Action – Want to See a Green Plane?
While the climate emergency demands a reduction in air traffic, @Djebbari_JB [Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, French Transport Minister] still thinks that a (hypothetical) green plane will suffice.
We denounce government greenwashing.
🔴Direct Action – vous voulez voir un avion vert ?
Alors que l’urgence climatique exige une réduction du trafic aérien, @Djebbari_JB pense encore qu’un (hypothétique) avion vert suffira.
Nous dénonçons le greenwashing du gouvernement. #OnAtterritQuand #LoiClimat pic.twitter.com/jvRtKleD8V
— Greenpeace France (@greenpeacefr) March 5, 2021
The Minister responded with a tweet containing only two words – “Criminal proceedings?”
The activists’ website goes on to explain what the issue is here. They claim that they are not against technological innovations, but that they do not believe it’s enough to solve the climate crisis.
Greenpeace hits out at the notion of a ‘green’ plane, something that France has been targeting the development of with its funding. They say that none of the solutions proposed, including biofuels, hydrogen and electric, will work. The statement says,
“In addition, whatever “green” aircraft we are offered, it will not provide a miracle solution to absorb the volume and growth in air traffic that we experienced before the Covid crisis, due in particular to the issues of resource availability (land, biomass, renewable electricity, etc.) and competition with other uses and sectors.”
Bonjour @Djebbari_JB vous vouliez un ✈️ vert ?
On gagne du temps et on vous en a fait un. Maintenant on peut passer aux choses sérieuses ?
Comme doter le projet de #LoiClimat de véritables mesures pour réduire le trafic aérien à la place de votre greenwashing. #OnAtterritQuand pic.twitter.com/7JrlFXl0pW
— Greenpeace France (@greenpeacefr) March 5, 2021
While the damage to the aircraft is one thing, the question of how they gained access to the plane is another. The incident comes less than a year after around 30 Extinction Rebellion protestors disrupted activities at Paris Orly airport.
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