Climate Activists Disrupt Major Airports: A Global Movement Takes Flight

Climate activist groups Last Generation and Just Stop Oil disrupted major airports in Germany and Britain, respectively, by gluing their hands to runways and conspiring to halt operations. Both groups aim to push for significant global agreements to end the use of fossil fuels by 2030.

Germany's Cologne-Bonn airport halted all flights temporarily on Wednesday after members of climate activist group Last Generation glued their hands to a runway. The group warned that this incident marked just the beginning, with more actions planned globally in the upcoming weeks. Concurrently, British police arrested nine members of climate campaign group Just Stop Oil who were plotting to disrupt operations at Heathrow Airport.

Although it's unclear if these actions were coordinated, the German group confirmed that British airports would be among several targets of their campaign on Wednesday. Operations at Cologne-Bonn airport, the sixth-largest in Germany, resumed in the morning after being suspended shortly before 0400 GMT.

Last Generation had posted on social media about blocking air traffic and shared images of activists with their hands glued to the runway. Ronja Kuenkler from Last Generation emphasized that this was only the beginning, with similar actions planned across Germany, Europe, and globally in the weeks ahead.

When queried about potential disruptions to the Paris Olympics starting on Friday, Kuenkler declined to comment. Despite predictions of widespread protests at airports across Europe and North America, no major disturbances were reported, and some attempts were thwarted.

In Norway, three activists were detained after cutting through a fence and briefly accessing a runway at Oslo Airport, according to local police. Just Stop Oil also shared footage of British police arresting individuals near a fenced-off runway.

(With inputs from agencies.)