Who we are

members

regional groups

countries

Stay Grounded

is a global network of more than 200 member organisations, among them local airport opposition and climate justice groups, NGOs, trade unions, initiatives fostering alternatives to aviation like night trains, and organisations supporting communities which struggle against offset or so called SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuels) projects. Also individual activists, academics, trade unionists and interested people can contribute to the network.

STAY GROUNDED aims to exchange experiences, support each other, and campaign together for a reduction of aviation and its negative impacts on climate and health. We also engage in fighting greenwashing climate strategies like carbon offsetting and the largely illusory promise of SAF. Our vision is a form of mobility that rests inside the planetary boundaries and allows a livable future for us and our children.

In order to build political pressure, we need to be many.

Our History

In October 2021 we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Stay Grounded Network. Read our blog-article, looking back at five years of Stay Grounded.In 2016, several local airport opposition groups organized coordinated actions, e.g. in Vienna (Austria), London (UK), Mexico City, Istanbul (Turkey), Sydney (Australia) and la ZAD (France). Those actions took place simultaneously to the conference of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), September 27th to October 7th, in which it decided on its new greenwashing strategy. Find out more here.

We realized that building alliances is hugely important in order to exchange experiences, support each other, come out of the shadow and involve more stakeholders. It can show that local airport struggles (often framed as “not in my backyard” conflicts) are not a single-issue, but that they are connected with the massive growth of aviation, the outrageous subsidies of its industry, the interest of an elite to cheaply fly very often, and the proposal of false solutions like offsetting and agrofuels. A modal shift of mobility can only be achieved by involving more and more groups and individuals to build pressure from below both locally and on a bigger scale by resisting, transforming and creating alternatives.

History

In October 2021 we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Stay Grounded Network. Read our blog-article, looking back at five years of Stay Grounded.

In 2016, several local airport opposition groups organized coordinated actions, e.g. in Vienna (Austria), London (UK), Mexico City, Istanbul (Turkey), Sydney (Australia) and la ZAD (France). Those actions took place simultaneously to the conference of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), September 27th to October 7th, in which it decided on its new greenwashing strategy. Find out more here.

We realized that building alliances is hugely important in order to exchange experiences, support each other, come out of the shadow and involve more stakeholders. It can show that local airport struggles (often framed as “not in my backyard” conflicts) are not a single-issue, but that they are connected with the massive growth of aviation, the outrageous subsidies of its industry, the interest of an elite to cheaply fly very often, and the proposal of false solutions like offsetting and agrofuels. A modal shift of mobility can only be achieved by involving more and more groups and individuals to build pressure from below both locally and on a bigger scale by resisting, transforming and creating alternatives.

What we stand for

Aviation is the most climate damaging form of transport and one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. While only a wealthy minority flies, it is mostly non-flyers who bear the brunt of the climate crisis.

Business as usual is not an option. We stand for 13 steps to transform transport, society and the economy to be just and environmentally sound.

Our network

The Stay Grounded network consists of 219 member organisations and 4 regional groups around the world.

Our team & structure

Stay Grounded consists of many parts: the campaigner’s team, the coordination team “turtles”, regional teams and of course our members. Find out who we are and how to get in contact with us.

How we are financed

Our work is mainly financed by donations and foundation funding.

You can support our work with your donation and help us become even more independent.

Press & Media

Press Contact

press@stay-grounded.org
+43670 353 43 11 (for media inquiries only)

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Photographs & illustrations

for free use on Flickr (attribution to photographer).

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References

1 Cohen et al. (2016): Finding Effective Pathways to Sustainable Mobility. Bridging the Science-Policy Gap. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669582.2015.1136637?needAccess=true.
Hall et al. (2013): The Primacy of Climate Change for Sustainable International Tourism. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Scott9/publication/264488262_The_Primacy_of_Climate_Change_for_Sustainable_International_Tourism/

2 Aviation grew over 7% and air freight over 9% in 2017 (doubling rates in 10 and 7 years respectively). See: http://atwonline.com/manufacturers/boeing-projects-another-record-year-aircraft-deliveries-2018

4 423 new airports, 121 runways, 205 runway extensions, 262 new terminals and 175 terminal extensions. CAPA – Centre for Aviation (2017): Airport Construction Database

5 Scott et al. (2012): Tourism and Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation (p.109), citing Worldwatch Inst. (2008): Vital Signs 2006-2007 (http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4346). “Yet only 5 percent of the world’s population has ever flown.” (p. 68) This estimate is old, but most recent, so we use a conservative “10%”.

6 We use “Global South” for those regions that are often called “developing countries”, which suggests that there was still the need for industrial development and modernisation. The terms Global South and Global North refer to the geopolitical (not necessarily geographical) situation in an unequal world system.

7 Night trains are in particular useful when the day journey time would be more than four hours. They must offer a choice of comfort levels, with fares that are attractive but not too complex and tickets that are easy to book and that are compatible with day trains.

8 International Transport Forum (2017): ITF Transport Outlook 2017 – Summary. https://bit.ly/2JknZWu

10 This concept stems from the “Buen vivir” in Andean societies of Latin America and is understood as an alternative to the capitalist understandings of development as growth.

12 See footnote 6

13 UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

14 Value Added Tax

15 Global Anti-Aerotropolis Movement (2015): What is an Aerotropolis, and Why Must These Developments Be Stopped? https://antiaero.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/gaam-whats-an-aerotropolis2.pdf

16 More on different privileges see: Todts, William (2018): Ending Aviation’s Tax Holiday. https://www.transportenvironment.org/newsroom/blog/ending-aviation%E2%80%99s-tax-holiday

17 Gossling & Nilsson (2010). Frequent flyer programmes and the reproduction of aeromobility. https://www.academia.edu/attachments/7559357/download_file?s=work_strip

18 OECD (2014): Airline Competition – Note by Norway. http://www.konkurransetilsynet.no/globalassets/filer/publikasjoner/oecd-bidrag/2014/bidrag-fra-norge–competition-issues-in-airline-services.pdf
For DK: Storm (1999) “”Air Transport Policies and Frequent Flyer Programmes in the European Community – a Scandinavian Perspective”, page 86. http://www.konkurransetilsynet.no/globalassets/filer/publikasjoner/oecd-bidrag/2014/bidrag-fra-norge–competition-issues-in-airline-services.pdf

19 The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the specialised UN agency that regulates international air transport and that is working closely with the aviation industry. Its climate strategy called CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) relies almost entirely on offsetting emissions. (https://www.icao.int).

20 The Öko-Institut (2016) investigated the effectiveness of existing offsetting projects for the European Commission and concluded that most likely only 2% of United Nations offset projects resulted in an actual additional emissions reduction. See: https://tinyurl.com/ybk7xybl

21 Spash (2015): Bulldozing Biodiversity. The Economics of Offsets and Trading-in Nature. In: Biological Conservation 192, S. 541⁻551;
Counter Balance/ Re:Common (2017): Biodiversity Offsetting. A Threat for Life. http://tinyurl.com/yc2uacen

22 REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. See more on REDD and offsetting in the study “The Illusion of green flying”: http://www.ftwatch.at/flying_green/ ;

Further Information on Offsetting: Film “Carbon Rush”;
Spash (2010): The Brave New World of Carbon Trading. In: New Political Economy, 15/2: 160-195

23 The only proven aviation biofuel technology relies on vegetable oils and the only feedstock that would be economically feasible on a large scale is palm oil, which is one of the main drivers of deforestation worldwide. See: Ernsting, Almuth (2017): Aviation Biofuels: How ICAO and Industry Plans for ‘Sustainable Alternative Aviation Fuels’ Could Lead to Planes Flying on Palm Oil. https://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Aviation-biofuels-report.pdf

24 For a recent (2014) study on the detrimental impact of biofuel consumption in the European Union, see: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/Final%20Report_GLOBIOM_publication.pdf;

See open letter to ICAO signed by 96 civil society organizations: http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2017/aviation-biofuels-open-letter/

25 Peeters (2017): Tourism’s Impact on Climate Change and its Mitigation Challenges – How Can Tourism Become ‘Climatically Sustainable’. https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:615ac06e-d389-4c6c-810e-7a4ab5818e8d/datastream/OBJ/download
Peeters et al. (2016): Are Technology Myths Stalling Aviation Climate Policy. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Scott_Cohen10/publication/296632724_Are_technology_myths_stalling_aviation_climate_policy

26 Malins (2017): What Role for Electrofuel Technologies in European Transport’s Low Carbon Future: https://www.transportenvironment.org/sites/te/files/publications/2017_11_Cerulogy_study_What_role_electrofuels_final_0.pdf