At least 15 people have been arrested in airports across Sweden, as climate activists carried out protests, resulting in delayed flights and disrupted air traffic.
The demonstrations, which were later claimed by the network Extinction Rebellion Sweden, coincided with the first day of the COP26 United Nations climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.
The arrests happened in a total of eight airports spanning the entire country. Some of the activists attempted to stop air traffic by gluing themselves to runways, national broadcaster SVT reported.
Among others, police raids were carried out at Malmö Airport, Bromma Airport and Arlanda Airport (both located in Stockholm), following reports of unauthorised access.
“Once there, we met two people in the area by the plane. They have been arrested and are suspected of airport sabotage. When we searched the area, we arrested two more people,” Per Fahlström of the Stockholm Police told SVT.
Subsequently, Växjö Airport was closed for traffic, as a man and a woman glued their hands to the runway. In Landvetter, Gothenburg, and and at Halmstad City Airport, a total of four people were arrested on board two planes, which they prevented from taking off.
Following the chain of events, the police have initiated a series of preliminary investigations into airport sabotage or aviation sabotage, whereas the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration has increased the safety of its protected objects.
Extinction Rebellion Sweden said that the purpose of the campaign was to draw attention to their message and to shift the current conversation to the need for more radical measures against climate change, posting photographs on social media.
“We believe it is okay to use peaceful civil disobedience”, its press contact Mathilda von Schantz told SVT, denying that they were domestic terrorists. “The difference is that we do not use force and do not harm anyone and that we would never do it,” she said.
“We believe it is okay to use peaceful civil disobedience”, its press contact Mathilda von Schantz told SVT, denying that they were domestic terrorists. “The difference is that we do not use force and do not harm anyone and that we would never do it,” she said.
However, aviation safety expert Hans Kjäll argued that these types of actions are problematic and fraught with various risks.
“You do not have control over the safety situation when you go into the traffic area. On the one hand, an activist like this can be run over. But they can also damage to the aircraft, which may end in a crash in the worst case,” Kjäll said. “We cannot ignore that such things are serious. For example, there are measures that prevent animals from entering the track. But these are people who think for themselves and who enter the path consciously. During the take-off phase the plane is in a position to run over that poor activist,” he added.
Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement aimed at using non-violent protests to compel governments to address climate change and environmental issues. The movement is not without controversy, as critics slam its idea of using civil disobedience, including roadblocks and traffic disruption, to draw attention to climate issues as dangerous fanaticism.
The main idea of the UN Conference on Climate Change, COP26, in Glasgow, is for the world leaders to make meaningful commitments on achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.