Hundreds of Climate Activist Blocks Private Jets at Amsterdam Airport

• Hundreds of climate activists blocked on Saturday private jets from leaving an airport in Amsterdam.
• The demonstration was organized by the climate activist group Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion.
• The protest was held on the eve of the COP27 U.N climate meeting in Egypt.

Hundreds of climate activists blocked private jets from leaving Schipol Airport in Amsterdam on Saturday — the latest in a series of demonstrations aiming to force global leaders to address the issue. 

Demonstrators from Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion sat around the private jets to prevent them from leaving the airport, and also rode bicycles around the planes, according to The Associated Press.

A spokesperson for The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the military police guarding the airport, told CNN there were more than 300 activists at the demonstration.

—Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) November 5, 2022

“As the climate crisis continues to spiral out of control and climate policies are affecting everyone, aviation and Schiphol Airport are profiting from exemptions and benefits,” Tessel Hofstede from Extinction Rebellion said in a statement.

In the same statement, Dewi Zloch from Greenpeace said they “want fewer flights, more trains, and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets.” 

In anticipation of the protest Schiphol Airport CEO Ruud Sondag addressed the climate activist on Friday in a separate statement saying, “be welcome, but keep it tidy.”

According to Sondag’s statement, he shares the activist’s sense of urgency and is committed to working towards a sustainable Netherlands for 25 years. 

This demonstration was held on the eve of the COP27 UN climate meeting in Egypt, according to The Associated Press. 

Biden is slated to make an appearance at the conference on Friday. He is expected to spotlight some of the success the US has made towards reducing emissions and clean energy, per The AP.

This demonstration follows a recent trend of climate protests. 

In October, environmental activists from two separate groups called attention to the climate catastrophe by defacing famous paintings. 

Two activists from “Just Stop Oil,” an anti-oil activist group, went viral after they threw tomato soup over a Van Gogh painting at the UK’s National Gallery. 

Following the Van Gogh protest, climate activists from the “Last Generation” threw mashed potatoes at the $110 million Claude Monet painting at the Museum Barberi in Postdam, Germany.