2024-07-30 10:13:41
Eight environmental activists from the British Stop Oil Act group were arrested on Monday, July 29, after attempting to block security checks at London’s Gatwick Airport. A few days ago, ten more were arrested near Heathrow, the largest airport in the United Kingdom.
Last week, in Germany, activists from the Last Generation organization held their hands on the airports of Cologne and Frankfurt airports, blocking traffic for several hours.
These two groups are the largest representatives of the A22 network, a network which brings together twelve activist movements from twelve countries. For several weeks, he has threatened, along with other environmental groups, to block major airports around the world. Entitled “Oil off”, the campaign calls out governments “to phase out oil, gas and coal by 2030 by signing a “binding export contract“. »
Around fifteen targeted courses
This is the largest simultaneous operation the network has ever implemented. In less than a week, around fifteen airports in a dozen mainly European countries were targeted, with varying degrees of success. In the United States, for example, an activist only showed up in Sacramento with a sign and was quickly arrested; In Austria, many activists spread the color orange at a terminal in Vienna, only managing to delay the departure of a plane.
This A22 network takes its name from “Initiation of concurrent actions in April 2022”, you specify on your site. From there many movements began to make headlines, with the first series of actions targeting the roads, and especially those operating the airports.
From the summer of 2022, their methods began to multiply. In particular we remember these environmental activists who started throwing knives or orange paint The sunflowers by Van Gogh, La Scala in Milan, and more recently The Mona Lisa in January 2024, as well as the stones of Stonehenge in England in June. They are all part of the A22 network, but belong to different groups depending on the country. In France, it is Dernier Renovation, which uses this method to request an energy renovation program for buildings.
This is the specificity of the network campaigns, they each time have a very recognizable question: stopping fossil fuels, better protection of wetlands or even the protection of social food security. This concentration of actions distinguishes it from the Extinction Rebellion.
An international group of activists was born in 2018 in the United Kingdom, after the publication of the IPCC report, and presented very broad questions: identify the climate emergency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect ecosystems and biodiversity, and create civil assemblies to manage this transition.
“Extreme Non-Violent Actions”
Both networks, however, say they are close, and despite being heavily criticized, their approach remains the same: “do as many repetitive, non-violent and public actions as possible, even if it means taking legal risks”, explained Titi. Speaking under a pseudonym, the latter is part of Riposte Alimentaire, the only group representing A22 in France.
Food Response, which has 1,173 activists in France, mainly among young people and those over 60, is campaigning for an establishment “Social food security”, in order to fight against food insecurity. He received it from the New Renewal, whose activists estimate by the end of 2023 to receive “real results” with government promises about the hot restoration of the house.
The French branch of the network did not participate in the airport blockades this week, “because of the security situation connected to it The Olympic Games in FranceThere is a desire to go back», develops an activist. If the entire network supports the “Stop Oil” campaign this summer, only six of the twelve members are participating in it this time, especially those targeting fossil fuels like Just Stop Oil.
A useful experience to grow
The benefits of being part of such a network are partly the financing of these movements, but also the sharing of experience. “In Norway, there is no tradition of activism, even less for nature, this support is useful for us to grow”said Callum, activist for Folk Mot Fossilmakta (The People Against Fossil Fuels) campaign, which only has around fifty members at the time.
“The airport blockade is the largest simultaneous operation of the A22 network to date, Callum reminded. It would not have taken place in Norway without your support, and the media coverage is very much thanks to the international cooperation: this exhibition was a success. »
If the different movements of the A22 network have grown rapidly in 2022-2023, they are seeing a legal backlash against environmental activist movements. In the United Kingdom in particular, sentences have become more and more severe.
On July 19, four members of Just Stop Oil received four and five years in prison for organizing a road blockade. More than 1,200 celebrities, artists, athletes and students have supported them, opposing the“inconsistency” of their convictions.
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