Major airport disruption in Germany as Oil Kills movement eyes more targets

Four German airports were disrupted on Thursday 15 August after eight people entered the airfields and glued themselves to taxiways as part of Oil Kills – an international uprising to end oil, gas, and coal by 2030. The uprising is calling for governments to commit to signing a Fossil Fuel Treaty.

Oil Kills action in Germany

Starting shortly before 5:00am CEST, eight supporters of Letzte Generation (Last Generation) entered airfields at Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart and glued themselves to the tarmac:

Flights were suspended at each airport, in some cases for up to two hours, as police removed and arrested the action takers. Flights had resumed at all airports by 7:50 CEST.

The actions started shortly before 5.00 CEST at Berlin BER, and around 30 to 50 minutes later protests also took place at the three airports in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden- Württemberg. In each case, two people in orange high-visibility vests peacefully expressed their opposition by displaying banners with the words “Oil kills” and “Sign the treaty”. They did not enter the runways.

We have to take effective measures

A spokesperson for Oil Kills said:

Ordinary people are once again taking matters into their own hands today to do what our criminal governments have failed to do. We are putting our bodies on the tarmac and refusing to allow the global fossil economy to continue without end, taking us ever closer to climate catastrophe. The link between oil, gas and coal, and human lives is now crystal clear: Oil Kills. We refuse to die for fossil fuels and we refuse to stand by while hundreds of millions of innocent people are murdered. We are in resistance against our murderous governments and the criminal elites who are threatening the survival of humanity.

We demand that our governments stop extracting and burning oil, gas and coal by 2030 and that they support and finance other countries to make a fast, fair and just transition. They must sign a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end the war on humanity before we lose everything.

Medical student Regina Stephan taking action in Berlin said:

Oil kills: The extraction of oil, gas and coal must stop urgently because it is destroying our livelihoods. And what is happening instead? Just yesterday, the state of Lower Saxony gave the green light for new gas drilling off Borkum. That can’t be true! As long as our decision-makers work hand in hand with the fossil fuel companies and put profit before human life, I’m standing here – on the tarmac – and I can’t help it.

I am aware that political decision-makers and people who are profiting from the ever-increasing number of flights would like us to leave. But the only way to achieve this is to take effective measures against the destruction that is being driven forward here. Because the climate catastrophe is so much more frightening than any threat of punishment: it is destroying my future, the future of us all! Our existence is at stake.

The last generation?

Letzte Generation supporters have been among the most active supporters of the Oil Kills campaign over the past three weeks.

In addition to blocking flights from the main passenger airports in Germany during this time further actions included: two people sat on the wings of private jets at Sylt Airport, while 15-20 sprayed paint in a terminal at Dortmund (10 August), 11 people held a solidarity protest in front of the Bundeskanzleramt in Berlin (11 August) and yesterday five people climbed onto the roof of Karlsruhe Baden-Baden Airport to display banners until they were removed by police.

Police have been conducting raids on those who took part in the highly disruptive actions at Frankfurt Airport. House searches were performed at eight apartments in six cities across Germany on 8 August.

The protests are part of the global Oil Kills campaign in which over 500 ordinary people from 14 countries across Europe, North America, and Africa have been engaged in a campaign of civil resistance at international airports. People from 22 different civil resistance groups have come together in support of one demand – a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end oil, gas and coal by 2030.

Flights, passengers and journeys have been severely disrupted as action takers glued themselves to tarmac, stood up in airplanes, glued and locked on at departure gates, and held placards in airport terminals. There have been 144 arrests at 31 different international airports, with six people now in custody in Germany and 14 people still held in prison on remand in the UK.

It’s clear: oil kills

Oil Kills said:

Governments and fossil fuel producers are waging war on humanity. Even so-called climate leaders have continued to approve new coal, oil and gas projects pushing the world closer to global catastrophe and condemning hundreds of millions to death.

We need an emergency international response to save lives.

As long as political leaders fail to take swift and decisive action to protect our communities from the worst effects of climate breakdown, we will remain in resistance. Our work remains essential, morally right and ever more urgent. The link between oil, gas and coal, and human lives is now crystal clear: Oil Kills.

Featured image and additional images via Oil Kills