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Climate Activists Disrupt EBACE

by Alud Davies
Climate Activists Disrupt EBACE

Climate activists protesting against the usage of private jets staged several demonstrations at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) today, causing the static display of aircraft to be closed for up to two hours, and several evening events to be canceled.

According to local Swiss media, around 100 protestors broke into Geneva Airport during the morning, causing a ground stop of all inbound and outbound flights for approximately an hour. Unconfirmed reports suggest that several activists were seen running along the airport runway.

Activists were also able to breach the EBACE static display, with several staging sit-down protests by aircraft, and several leaving handwritten notes on aircraft, suggesting that private jets were burning the planet’s future.

At least one evening event was also canceled as a precaution. Dassault, which was due to celebrate its 60th anniversary at the nearby Villa Sarasan, sent out an email to attendees during the afternoon saying notifying them of the cancelation:

“Due to the potential for protests from environmental organizations in the surrounding area and the safety of our guests, we regret to inform you that tonight’s reception has been canceled.”

Geneva Airport authorities were made aware of the protests in advance, as were the EBACE organizers, who ramped up security measures to enter the event.

The activists came from several different groups, including Greenpeace, Stay Grounded, and the Extinction Rebellion.

Swiss police reported during the afternoon that they had arrested up to 80 activists.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one EBACE attendee said that the protests were counterintuitive, as the disruption meant that at least one speaker during the event’s sustainability conference was trapped in the static display and unable to speak.

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