Climate activists have spray-painted superyachts, blocked private jets from taking off and plugged holes on golf courses this summer as part of a growing campaign against the lifestyles of the ultra-rich.
Climate activism has increased in recent years as the planet heats up to dangerous levels, triggering more extreme heat, floods, storms and wildfires around the world.
The tactics are increasingly radical, with some protesters sticking to the streets, disrupting high-profile sporting events such as golf and tennis and even dousing famous works of art with paint or soup.
They are now focusing on the wealthy, having long targeted some of the world’s most profitable companies – oil and gas conglomerates, banks and insurance firms that continue to invest in fossil fuels.
“We’re not pointing the finger at people but at their lifestyle, the injustice it represents,” said Karen Killeen, an Extinction Rebellion activist involved in the protests in Ibiza, Spain, a favorite summer spot for the wealthy. He said the group was protesting unnecessary emissions such as super-rich individuals taking pizza by boat. “In the climate emergency, it’s an atrocity,” he said.
Environmental activists Stay Grounded and Greenpeace demonstrate while handcuffing themselves to a plane during the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE), at Geneve Aeroport in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 23, 2023. AP
Killeen and others from the climate activist group Futuro Vegetal – or Future of Vegetables – sprayed a $300 million superyacht belonging to Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie.
Protesters held up signs that read, “You eat, others suffer.”
In Switzerland, about 100 activists disrupted Europe’s biggest private jet sales show in Geneva when they chained themselves to the runways and entrances to the show.
Climate activism has increased in recent years. AP
In Germany, the climate group Letzte Generation — which translates to Last Generation — splashed private jets on the resort island of Sylt, in the North Sea.
In Spain, activists blocked holes on golf courses to protest the sport’s heavy water needs during the hot dry season.
In the US, Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Walt Disney’s niece, was arrested at East Hampton Town Airport, New York, in July along with 13 other protesters for blocking cars from entering or leaving a parking lot.
Protesters demonstrate in front of Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie’s superyacht after spraying pain in Ibiza, Spain on July 16, 2023. AP
It’s the first of up to eight acts taking place in the exclusive Hamptons area. Activists also stormed a golf course, disrupted a museum gala and demonstrated outside several private luxury homes.
“Affluent practices contribute disproportionately to the climate crisis at this point,” said University of Maryland social scientist Dana Fisher. According to a 2021 report by the non-profit Oxfam, if all planet-warming emissions were attributed to the people who produced them, the richest 1% would be responsible for around 16% of emissions by 2030. “It makes sense for these activists to call out this toxic behavior.”
Richard Wilk, an economic anthropologist at Indiana University, says luxury travel is the “real cause” in the exodus of the ultra-rich.
A Just Stop Oil protester is led by police and security near the 17th hole during the second day of the British Open Golf Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, on July 21, 2023. AP
He published the annual emissions estimates of leading billionaires in 2021 and found that superyachts — with permanent crew, helicopter pads, submarines and pools — emit about 7,020 tons of carbon dioxide a year, more than 1,500 times higher than the average family car.
And private aircraft in Europe alone last year caused more than 3 million tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to the average annual CO2 emissions of more than half a million EU residents, according to non-profit Greenpeace.
But Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann warned that attention from fossil fuel companies – which are responsible for at least 70% of all emissions – and towards the rich could “play right into the hands of the fossil fuel industry and its ‘deflection campaign’ they use it to distract from regulation by emphasizing individual carbon footprints over larger pollutant footprints.”
A Just Stop Oil protester sits on Court 18 on day three of the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London, on July 5, 2023. AP
“The solution is to get everyone to use less carbon-based energy,” whether rich or low-income, he said.
David Gitman, president of Monarch Air Group, Florida’s private air charter provider, encouraged activists to think twice about whether they’re taking the right approach.
“If their activism leads to real help for real programs to make real changes like sustainable aviation fuel, like carbon offsetting, I think activism like this can help achieve those results,” Gitman said. “Now, if they go out and they spray paint a private jet at an airport in Europe, is that going to get that result? In my opinion, no.”
Climate activists protest on July 15, 2023, in East Hampton, New York. AP
Fisher, of the University of Maryland, is also skeptical that activism is effective in changing the behavior of the wealthy.
In some cases, governments have taken steps with regulations.
France is cracking down on the use of private jets for short trips, and earlier this year, the Netherlands’ Schiphol Airport also announced plans to ban private jets.
But as protests mount, Fisher and Wilk say they can still move the needle toward behavioral change.
“Public shaming is one of the most powerful ways to control people,” Wilk said. “It acts in many ways to shame people, to make them more aware of the consequences of their actions.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
