Folks planning to fly in or out of London on Sept. 13 may want to rethink their travel arrangements.
Climate activists intend to disrupt traffic at one of the world’s dominant airports next month, drawing attention to “the most serious and urgent crisis humanity has ever faced.”
The group, called Heathrow Pause, will fly toy drones around the airfield, creating an “exclusion zone” and effectively shutting down the seventh busiest airport on the planet—which also happens to be the UK’s single largest source of carbon pollution.
“In light of current scientific knowledge and quantifiable evidence it is a crime against humanity—and all life on Earth—to support carbon intensive infrastructure projects,” Heathrow Pause wrote in its manifesto.
UK Parliament in May made world history as the first country to declare a climate change emergency—a symbolic move that will take time to back up.
Now, in response to what they call the government’s “lack of constructive progress,” activists are prepared to infiltrate Heathrow’s 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) no-fly zone in hopes of grounding flights.
The group promised to adhere “scrupulously” to passenger safety and not venture into flight paths.
Airport authorities have been given advanced notice: Four of the organization’s representatives met with the Heathrow Airport Authority, Heathrow Business Resilience team, and Metropolitan Police this morning to discuss plans for Sept. 13.
“I am a law-abiding citizen—a mother and a grandmother, too. I don’t want to break the law, I don’t want to go to prison, but right now we, as a species, are walking off the edge of a cliff,” Valerie Milner-Brown, one of the organization’s “peace pilots,” said in a statement.
“Life on Earth is dying. Fires are ravaging the Amazon. Our planet’s lungs are quite literally on fire. Hundreds of species are going extinct every day. We are experiencing hottest day after hottest day, and the Arctic is melting faster than scientists’ worst predictions,” she continued. “All of this means that we have to cut emissions right now, or face widespread catastrophe on an increasingly uninhabitable planet.”
Heathrow Airport alone emits 18 million tons of CO2 a year, according to Milner-Brown. That’s more than most countries. A proposed third runway would produce a further 7.3 million tons of CO2.
People have shut down airports in Dubai, London, and Newark with drones for a lot less.
“For all life—now and in the future—we have to fake action,” Milner-Brown, a 64-year-old writer, said. “I’m terrified but if this is what it will take to make politicians, business leaders, and the media wake up, then I’m prepared to take this action and to face the consequences.”
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