Climate campaigners carried out a protest outside Dundee Airport on Saturday as they highlighted the impact of the global airline industry on the planet.
At noon, Extinction Rebellion members gathered outside the terminal on Riverside Drive with banners as part of the Plane Stupid campaign highlighting the issue of aviation emissions.
Saturday’s Dundee protest came on a day of climate action across the UK – with groups of activists taking to streets across the country.
Extinction Rebellion said aviation emissions are forecast to rise considerably in the next 30 years.
A group of about 12 people gathered for the Dundee Airport protest. Numbers were kept low to stay in line with coronavirus guidelines.
Rebels at Glasgow and Dundee have rung the Climate Alarm at their airports.
If we want to #buildbackbetter then we need to bail out and retrain air travel workers, not their billionaire bosses pic.twitter.com/5QTkFQ3w0D
— Extinction Rebellion Scotland 🌍 (@ScotlandXr) August 29, 2020
Extinction Rebellion Dundee member Kate Treharne said: “It was in solidarity with the national Plane Stupid campaign about emissions associated with airlines.
“There were other demonstrations all over the country.”
She claimed planes, including private jets coming to the Tayside area, are releasing “enormous emissions of carbon for nothing”.
Kate said the protest was aimed at putting the climate emergency back to the forefront of people’s minds during the coronavirus pandemic.
Covid-19 is a zoonotic disease that jumped from animal to human – and is believed to have been passed on from a bat or another mammal.
Scientists say the transfer of the virus from animals to people is linked to environmental changes.
Kate added: “Damage to our ecosystem produced the pandemic. This is not the big problem. It is a product of the climate emergency
“The climate breakdown is going to be much much more devastating than the pandemic.
“We are running out of time.”
She said: “We had 12 people (at the protest) and nice big banners. We didn’t want to put it out beforehand and get a big crowd. We just thought we’d do a show of solidarity and put it in people’s minds.”
It's banner drop day! @XRDundee @XRebellionUK ten banners going up around Dundee today. See if you can spot them all! #ExtinctionRebellion #ActNow @sust_dundee @DundeeCouncil #RebelForLife 💚🐓💚🚴♀️💚🐝💚🦅💚🦉💚🦇💚✊🏾💚 pic.twitter.com/nDmzHtPZc9
— Kate Treharne 💚🐓💚🐝💚🚴♂️💚 #ClimateEmergency (@kate_treharne) August 28, 2020
It comes after the group placed stickers around Dundee’s petrol stations in a bid to raise awareness of a campaign by Doctors for XR. They were put next to pumps late on Thursday night.
On Friday the group also placed a number of banners out across the city.
From @XRDundee pic.twitter.com/ZSKKQxy4Fv
— Extinction Rebellion Scotland 🌍 (@ScotlandXr) August 28, 2020
A statement from XR Dundee issued prior to the protest said British people had experienced “worsening health, both physical and mental, (and) increasing inequality” during the pandemic.
It adds: “The climate crisis will, unless it is properly addressed, cause even more damage and suffering to ordinary people and their families.
“We know that there are solutions, positive changes that our fellow Dundonians want to see. That’s why we’re giving up our time and energy to make our voices heard this weekend.”
Larger scale Extinction Rebellion demonstrations are planned for London, Manchester and Cardiff on September 1.
