News & Blog

Hundred climate activists in custody in Geneva after peaceful protest against largest private aviation industry sales event in Europe

Hundred climate activists in custody in Geneva after peaceful protest against largest private aviation industry sales event in Europe

One hundred climate activists from 17 countries supporting Greenpeace, Stay Grounded, Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion and other climate justice groups are being temporarily detained after a peaceful protest against Europe’s largest private jet fair, the annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva. They remain in police custody. Activists report the use of pepper spray and injuries after the police intervention. Greenpeace, Stay Grounded, Extinction Rebellion and Scientist Rebellion, which are supported by activists, are extremely concerned about these reports of excessive use of force against the peaceful protesters and demand the immediate release of all those involved.

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“Bullshit Flights”: A debate on legitimate air traffic

“Bullshit Flights”: A debate on legitimate air traffic

Flying is essentially a luxury activity, and in many cases downright obscene. Our definition: bullshit flights are unnecessary, frivolous and unfair – and should be stopped immediately. This article summarizes the results of a Stay Grounded survey on bullshit flights, and poses some questions about the future of our mobility system.

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Grounding Travel Policies in Organisations

Grounding Travel Policies in Organisations

In the Stay Grounded webinar on “Grounding travel policies in organisations” we explored different measures available to organisations to reduce business air travel. The webinar had a focus on academia, with inputs from University Bergen and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

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Airport Conflicts – Struggles for Environmental Justice

Airport Conflicts – Struggles for Environmental Justice

All across the globe airport projects involve new land acquisition, the destruction of ecosystems, displacement of people and local pollution and health issues. This webinar presented the results of 300 socio-environmental conflicts related to the expansion or creation of new airports or aerotropolis that were mapped in research in collaboration between Environmental Justice Atlas and Stay Grounded.

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New night train Vienna – Brussels celebrated by climate action groups in both cities

New night train Vienna – Brussels celebrated by climate action groups in both cities

After more than 15 years of absence, the night train connecting Brussels and Vienna returns. Twice a week, travelers can now travel in their sleep between the two capitals. It is only a modest start, but in both cities Stay Grounded members welcomed the new night train as a positive step towards a more climate friendly transport system. The first departing trains were celebrated directly on the platform by activists wearing pyjamas.

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CORSIA – better or worse than nothing?

CORSIA – better or worse than nothing?

The next ICAO Assembly on CORSIA will take place in Montreal from the 24th of September until the 4th of October 2019. Stay Grounded offered a webinar on the 29th of August that explained the current status in the CORSIA process and indicated ways to resist the problematic scheme. Find a shortened version of the recorded webinar, and an overview here.

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Sit-in of farmers for more than a month against Karad Airport expansion

For 36 days, small-scale farmers have been protesting days and nights with a sit-in in front of the district’s planning administration (Satara Collector Office) against the expansion of Karad Airport in Maharashtra State, India. The farmers had started the sit-in (Thiyya Aandola) on 29th of July and announced to continue their protest until the government meets their demands and cancels the expansion project. This agitation is the latest in the ongoing resistance of farmers opposing the airport expansion for more than 8 years. The protests take place under the aegis of the socio-political organization Shramik Mukti Dal.

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Activists block fuel train to challenge airport expansion in Sweden

On the 11th of August a group of climate activists disrupted the delivery of aviation fuel to Arlanda airport outside Stockholm, Sweden by blocking 14 tank cars of fossil fuels from entering the station. Activists of the local campaign Flyglarm Arlanda peacefully trespassed into the fuel station, to challenge the expansion of the airport.

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More than 300 aviation-related conflicts and environmental justice movements around the world mapped in research project

The EnvJustice project of the Environmental Science and Technology Institute at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Autonomous University of Barcelona) ICTA-UAB and the Stay Grounded network have registered more than 300 socio-environmental conflicts related to the expansion or creation of new airports or aerotropolis (airports surrounded by industrial and commercial zones). 60 of these have been analyzed and…

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SALON DU BOURGET: FACE A L’URGENCE CLIMATIQUE, GARDONS LES PIEDS SUR TERRE !

Du 17 au 23 juin se tiendra au Bourget le 53ème Salon International de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace, près de quatre ans après la signature en ces lieux de l’Accord de Paris, par lequel 195 pays s’engageaient à réduire drastiquement leurs émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Exonérée de cet engagement mondial, l’industrie du transport aérien prospère, et sa contribution à l’effet de serre explose.

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Illegal construction works associated with New Mexico City International Airport

CPOOME raises an urgent alert upon the illegal construction works associated with the New Mexico City International Airport. Workers, trucks and heavy machinery had entered the Ejidos of Nexquipayac on the Texcoco Lake shore without authorization and presentation of the project to the community on March 6th. After having faced resistance by farmers, the construction company was guarded by about a hundred strikers and armed men in the second attempt, threatening ejidatarios and …

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Open Letter: Solidarity with Save Maldives

On Febuary 26, the Stay Grounded Network sent out an open letter to the President of the Maldives on behalf of its more than 100 global member organisations in solidarity with the Save Maldives citizen movement. It urges the recently elected President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to stop the ongoing and planned destruction of ecosystems and livelihoods for airport infrastructure – making the archipelago even more vulnerable to the climate crisis.

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Solidarity with the Stansted 15

The Stansted 15 are a group of anti-deportation protesters who blocked a UK government deportation flight at Stansted Airport last year to make the links clearer between climate change, colonialism, homophobia and the border regime. In a world of the IPCC’s current forecast of 3 degrees C plus, innocent climate breakdown refugees will face …

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Press Release: ‘Bulacan Aerotropolis’ threatens marine ecology, food security – fisherfolk

Calling it as one of the biggest environmental disasters to hit Manila Bay, the activist fisherfolk group PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas said the Bulacan Aerotropolis Project will kill both the marine ecosystem and the lives of thousands of fisherfolk who subsist by fishing in the waters of Manila Bay. The project will be constructed at the 2,500-hectare waters of Manila Bay in …

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New french report “L’illusion de l’aviation verte”

The aviation industry has announced its intention to become greener in the future. This report examines the different climate strategies. Do they deliver on their promises? Is carbon-neutral growth a realistic goal? “L’illusion de l’aviation verte” is written for people and groups that want to understand the greening strategies in order to effectively address aviation growth and climate change.

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