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Edinburgh High Court Appeal: June 7th 2011: An appeal to better judgement

Appellant Dan Glass said “the Scottish legal system defines breach of the peace as an activity “causing fear and alarm to the ordinary and reasonable person, and which threatens serious disturbance to the community. I can’t think of a better way to describe climate change. Sometimes, we believe, the law must be challenged to protect our fundamental freedom of expression and to disrupt lawful activities that are harming the prospects of future generations. Furthermore it’s the role of a democracy to protect the voices of the minority aswell as the majority. So we will continue fighting for justice.”

Please get in contact with info@planestupid.com for any information or support.

Appeal Statement

The Climate9 continue to reject the claims that any serious disturbance threatened the local community. The airport and the police were notified of the protest the moment we safely entered the airport. No one was hurt, we engaged peacefully with the airport staff and we dismantled the protest as soon as we were told there was a potentially urgent rescue mission to be made only from the space we occupied. Unfortunately for the airport’s honest reputation, this turned out to be false.

We want the government and the aviation industry to be as open, honest and accountable as we are, to stop scare tactics, lies and intimidation and start listening to people concerned about aviation’s social and climate impacts. We know the police allowed the airport operators to influence legitimate protest with scare stories about air ambulance stories. We know the Government allow politically-influenced policing to infiltrate environmental action through the police exposé’s this week. This is political policing in the interest of environmentally-damaging industry and an abuse of power. The Government are standing back while the banks continue to breach the public’s peace by robbing our money. Are the Government also going to stand back while aviation robs our future?

People from all over the world supported the Climate9, from residents by Aberdeen airport to families facing floods in Bangladesh. As the impacts of global climate change intensify by the minute, our protest, which didn’t disturb anyone’s peace, was legitimate. We resolve to keep fighting for climate justice until the British judicial system recognises its role to protect everyone’s right to live in a clean and healthy environment and that the earth has rights itself. It is vital from both a human rights perspective and from an earth rights perspective that the law regulates conduct to ensure that the health and integrity of earth’s ecosystems are maintained, and indeed promoted. We took our action because we believe this is justified, proportionate and necessary in the face of catastrophic climate change, and that the negative consequences of our actions are more purposeful than the consequences of continued inaction.

You may remember the recent Climate9 trial that took place at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and was the first climate change jury trial in Scotland and the biggest in the UK since the failure of Copenhagen. It brought global public attention on the need for action to prevent runaway climate change.

The actions of the Climate9 drew attention to the damage which would have been prevented had they not stopped at least 107 tonnes of carbon from being emitted (enough to heat 200 Scottish homes for a month) during the 5 hour occupation. Aviation is the fastest growing source of global CO2 emissions and 60% of flights from Scottish airports are internal. So we still have work to do!

How ordinary people take on the State for environmental justice. A creative and powerful online video series.

6 short film documenting the process of how ordinary people can challenge the legal system for environmental justice. The film will be used as a learning tool for activists, individuals, groups and to help spread the message about the need for action. This will be promoted on the website with all the supporting statements generated throughout the trial showing the connections between the environmental issues and wild law – from fuel poverty to public health to climate change;

Members of the Climate9 defence committee have been, and will continue to, hold popular education workshops to build on lessons learnt from organising political trials for social change. At these events and in the media we connect themes such as police oppression, climate change, social, ecological and intergenerational justice and fuel poverty to support people to get to the root causes of social and environmental injustice.

If you think that we are screwed, that climate chaos is inevitable and nothing can be done. Think again.

This is the story of Climate 9. 9 everyday people sick of the aviation industries ignoring communities affected by their pollution who took action, to make a difference, and to challenge the law.

We targeted the aviation industry and industries pushing for unhealthy expansion. We occupied the Aberdeen airport taxiway for 5 hours, were arrested which led to the first jury led climate change trial in Scotland.

When systems fail you, don’t fail yourself.

Taking the fight from the court of the public to the court of the law was always part of the plan to show how your action can make a big difference.

So who are the real climate criminals?

• Take an inside look at our archive at footage collected over 2 and half years from the action to the appeal.
• See the footage Plane Stupid filmed whilst the action was happening,
• hear about our story from those involved,
• The lawyers, all 27 of them (legal strategy),
• The media circus (playing the game),
• The scientists,
• The supporters and even our mums (campaign and emotional support).
• At the root of Plane Stupid and Climate activism are real problems of social injustice, a war without bullets, that we can no longer ignore. Don’t struggle alone. Here are our experiences we hope it helps you, your community and your struggle. Watch the videos, share your stories, get in touch.

Here is one of the chapters which will be included on the website in association with the launch of the film series:

Why Wild Law UK supports Climate 9 – for more of Wild law UK’s great work see http://www.wildlawuk.org/

Wild Law UK is made up of more than 100 UK-based lawyers and non-lawyers from the private and public sectors, as well as students and academics. Membership is open to anyone willing to engage in creative thinking about how we can move from anthropocentric law to “Earth-centred” law.

It is abhorrent to us now that anyone be a slave, a mere chattel, or that a woman could be the property of her husband, but it was not always so. The abolition of slavery and universal enfranchisement was unthinkable without great struggle and without fundamental changes to the law. The struggle now is to maintain viable conditions for life on Earth. We see nature as a resource to exploit, usually only restrained by property law. Such anthropocentrism is out of date, out of step with science and leads to an unbalanced relationship between humans and other beings and habitats. The response of our governments to this injustice has been about as effective as rearranging deck chairs on the Titantic.

Wild Law UK supports Climate 9 – like us, they are challenging a destructive and out of date system, a system that legitimises and facilitates the destruction of our planet, our only home. We support them in that goal. Like us, Climate 9 recognises the inherent value of life. We support them in their mission to make clear to those in power how urgent it is that we act effectively and swiftly to prevent dangerous climate change. The Climate 9 activists are leading the way, setting an example for others and demonstrating that it is possible to resist -in all sorts of ways.

We support the incredibly brave people in Climate 9 who put the planet before themselves and are willing to stand up for what they believe in. In common with Climate 9, wild lawyers believe that the planet must dictate how much carbon can be absorbed, and humans and human law must adapt accordingly, not the other way around. Wild law is also about widening our democracy. Here too we find common ground with Climate 9. Wild lawyers support local communities being able to protect their land and interests – to the benefit of all inhabitants of an area (including non human inhabitants).

Wild Law UK also supports Climate 9 in their work to bring together the justice movement in order to create a new narrative –not based on competition and economic growth, but based on co-operation and mutually enhancing relationships. It is possible to build this world, if we unite and speak with a unified voice. We look forward to progressing this global environmental justice movement together.

The fight goes on

On August 25, the climate 9 will be back in Aberdeen Sheriff court for sentencing, where we could yet become Scotland’s first climate change political prisoners. We want to take this opportunity to update you, our brilliant supporters, of the next steps in our amazing journey.

But first…a short recap of the story so far

On March 3^rd 2009, a group of climate change activists closed down Aberdeen airport, cancelling flights and stopping carbon emissions, preventing an estimated 100 tonnes of dangerous greenhouse gases from reaching the atmosphere.

Early in 2010, we launched public campaigns across the UK to highlighting the dangers of aviation’s carbon emissions. Through our campaigns and your excellent support, we managed to justify direct action and put our actions into the context of the devastation, misery and death caused by climate change effects. Together we asked questions of a legal system that gives protection to climate criminals whilst threatening climate defenders with prison.

We looked at the tactics of the aviation industry, the legal system and the police to deter activists and examined the relationship between these institutions and the implications of their collusion. During our campaign, aided by you, we exposed the lies and hypocrisy of all these institutions and through support from communities affected by airport expansion and climate change, we brought into focus the plight of those suffering from the expansion of aviation and the inability of our political leaders to seriously tackle climate change.

We sought and received comments from you for our website and used the comments during the trial to justify our actions as necessary. We held events, campaign launches, public speaking events and supporter rallies in the lead up to the trial and during the trial itself.

We got amazing testimony from leading experts such as Geoff Meaden and Alice Bows, who explained how climate change and the expansion of aviation will affect our health our homes and our communities. We set up social networking sites, generating a massive response from our brilliant supporters and we received fantastic and crucial court support during the long two week trial. The group gathered statements of support from a wide range of individuals and groups including people and communities affected by airport expansion in Scotland and communities affected by climate change around the world. Support also came from faith based networks such as the Muslim Council of Scotland, musicians, artists, journalists including international figures such as John Pilger and established organisations like Friends of the Earth. During the trial itself, respected climate change experts offered to give testimony in court and unchallenged evidence of the need for action against climate change was heard by a Scottish jury for the first time, potentially an important milestone in Scots Law. Handbooks, short films and other resources are no being created to share the stories with others on how to build a winninf fight in the eyes of the public and the environment no matter how slow the judical system may be to catch on.

To all of you, to anyone who posted a comment, who turned up at an event, who left messages of support, who donated time and money, who called the press, who wrote letters, who turned up at court – we are eternally grateful. To all of you who had the courage and the commitment to care, we owe you a massive debt of gratitude. More importantly, the world, the communities affected by climate change and climate activists everywhere, some of whom are right now contemplating direct action, you have been our motivation and our inspiration.

Thank you!!!

Last year the Climate 9 stopped tonnes of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions by disrupting operations at Aberdeen Airport. After deliberating for 4 hours, the jury in Aberdeen- the ‘oil capital of Europe’, found them all guilty of breach of the peace. They will be sentenced in August.

The court of international opinion has come to a slightly different verdict, with messages of support flooding in from those on the frontline of climate change and comenaters like John Pilger and Mike Mansfield QC.

This is the first time since the failure of the Copenhagen process that evidene of the dangers of climate change and aviation emissions have been presented by climate experts to a jury.

Speaking during the trial, expert witnesses Dr Alice Bows and Dr Geoff Meaden shocked many by explaining that the UK governements emissions targets are not radical enough to prevent future generations from experiencing catastrophic events. Like the flooding in Brazil this week, where 100,000 people have been made homeless, 1,000 peoplle are missing and at least 42 people sadly lost their lives.

These horrific events are why we must continue to take action to stop greenhouse gas emmissions, especially when the response from the government is woefully inadequate.

As one of the defendants, Jimmy, explained outside the court:

“While they talk, and nothing changes, people all over the world are starting to act. Even if it means standing up against the states use of legal intimidation. This verdict shows that the mechanisms of the establishment won’t stop run away climate change. The expert witnessess have shown that we must take effective action, the protest at Aberdeen has shown that we can.”

To support the Climate9 we set up the Climate9 Defence Committee.  This is a wide group of organisations and individuals who support the actions of anti-aviation campaigners who took direct action against airport expansion in Aberdeen in March 2009. These 9 activists now face a court case which could get them years in prison.

We believe that the Climate9 should be rewarded for their actions and not punished. If you agree that climate change is an urgent threat which is already costing lives and destroying the ecosystems that support us, and that those in power need a radical wake-up call, please join us to stand up for those who are doing just that.  Check out the support section of this site.  We also need as many statements of support as possible. Write one for yourself or your organisation now.

emissions

Climate change is forcing poverty, displacement and famine in the Global South, as well as ecological ill-health worldwide. Meanwhile our political, institutional and industrial leaders are not only doing nothing to reduce the damage, they are actually making it worse, expanding our carbon heavy economy every year. This blinkered attitude is worse than selfish. It is short-sighted, will burden future generations, and is directly leading to suffering, ecocide and death. UK lawyer Polly Higgins has recently made the case that those responsible for creating ecocides such as this should be prosecuted under international law.

Here are a few climate criminals who we might start with:

Tony Clement, Canadian cabinet minister
Tony has been nominated for continually allowing and promoting the Canadian Tar Sands, which has been named the “most destructive project on earth” and can already be seen from space. Mr. Clement and executives of Nexen energy, which has major investments in northern Alberta’s heavy oil industry, and have been having sneaky meetings with Barack Obama’s top energy advisor Jason Grumet to ensure America continues to use oil from the Tar Sands.

Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways
Former CEO of Aer Lingus, Mr. Walsh has been pressing for airport expansion, pushing for compensation from the public purse over the Icelandic volcano eruption and recently attempting to break the Union UNITE’s talks with BA, refusing their acceptance of BA’s offers. He also refused to apologise for swinging cuts, saying “we make to apologies for focusing on profit.” Profit first, workers second, environment off the list.

Local resident disturbed by airport noise

Patrick Birley, Chief Executive of the European Climate Exchange
The Climate Exchange is a major London based carbon trading company which is profiting from helping industry avoid climate change taxes and legislation.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow airport
Despite passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport actually falling for the past couple of years, BAA Glasgow are still pushing through expansion plans based on the very dated 2003 Air Transport White Paper. Ms McMillan is partly responsible for round-the-clock flights over the heads of thousands of people in communities around Glasgow airport. In response to residents asking for measures to mitigate extreme levels of noise Amanda was proud to announce the double glazing of a whole two buildings courtesy of BAA.

Lord Adonis and Peter Mandelson for their involvement in pushing through
the Heathrow 3rd runway plans.
Peter Mandelson arranged meetings between BAA’s spin doctor Roland Rudd and Government Ministers – including Transport Minister Lord Adonis – at least five times in ten days in the run up to the Heathrow 3rd runway decision. On the 6th March a Plane Stupid activist covered Peter Mandelson in green custard to protest his involvement in the dodgy decision on a third Heathrow runway, as he arrived at a government summit on low-carbon technology. Gotcha!

Alastair Darling was Secretary of State for Transport in 2003
He is responsible for the Air Transport White Paper. This document outlines a 2-3 times increase in air passenger numbers by 2030 effectively allowing for unrestricted airport expansion. Expansion of this level would send catastrophic levels of carbon emission into the atmosphere.