ASSESSMENTS

Climate Activist Group Taking Aim at Air Travel

Sep 4, 2019 | 10:00 GMT

Police officers carry away an activist during an Extinction Rebellion protest in central London on April 19, 2019.

Police officers carry away an activist during an Extinction Rebellion protest in central London on April 19, 2019.

(TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • To target air travel, climate activist group Extinction Rebellion will need to develop tactics that don't endanger aircraft and don't lead to serious penalties for protesters.
  • The group may try to imitate the techniques used by demonstrators in Hong Kong to shut down the international airport there.
  • XR may also target the unsecured part of the airport by blocking entrances, security checkpoints and check-in counters.

Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion (XR) has made no secret of its desire to target air travel. The group has several reasons -- ideological and practical -- for singling out this means of transportation. XR backers see airports, which have a large environmental impact and big carbon footprint, as a symbol of the unsustainable capitalist system that they are rebelling against. Also, any disruptive protest at an airport, even a short one, will draw increased media attention and help spread recognition of the group's goals. Finally, airports are a critical and vulnerable part of international commerce, and their disruption supports its ultimate objective of overthrowing the current political and economic system. In its attempts to disrupt flight operations, Extinction Rebellion will seek tactics that won't endanger others or incur severe penalties....

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