The Climate 9 outside Aberdeen Sheriff's Court

Day 9. Reflections on making history in the courts, from several members of the climate 9.

After 15 months on bail preparing and 9 incredibly intense days in the courtroom it is surreal to be so close to the end. Tomorrow leaves only the Judge’s instructions to the jury and then their deliberations and verdict.

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the 9 of us, we’ve had some hard decisions to make but also lots of victories along the way. The biggest of which is the strength our group has managed to sustain and the massive support that we’ve received.

The first day was mainly taken up with waiting about and the selection of the jury. It was weird for the 9 of us, most not having spent much time in a court room, getting used to the hierarchies (even down to the different comfort factor of the chairs people get to sit on!) and language used.

The prosecution case took 6 days, some of which was fabulously interesting and some mind numbingly boring. The court heard from police officers, security guards, airport staff and managers including that of the air ambulance service. We saw the video of the action; pictures of the banners and wire fortress; lots of pieces of evidence including plastic golf clubs, home-made golf balls with inscriptions of places effected by climate change like ‘Sipson’ ‘Aberdeen’ and ‘rainforests’ on them and various items of golfing clothing from the day.

It was great to see the faces of the jury change as they got a better picture of what the action was and who we are as people. It was stated again and again by the prosecution witnesses that we were “peaceful” and “polite” confounding preconceptions about the type of person normally tried by a jury.

Our first big win came in the form of Stephen Wright from GAMA aviation who manages the air ambulance flights at Aberdeen. After all the stresses at the time of the action, and the bad press that followed, it was great to have it confirmed by Wright that the delay to the ‘baby flight’ “was due to our operational delay by the medics and not the protesters. This incident has had no financial or life threatening or operational impact on our operation.”

However the biggest win of all came from the legal discussions around the relevancy of our witnesses. We won the right to have our climate defence experts heard as our defence. This is the first time in Scotland that a Jury has been allowed to hear a climate defence. AMAZING! On the same day all 9 were acquitted of the vandalism charge due to insufficient evidence.

A real high point of the whole experience and a good reminder of why we were there was when our experts got to speak. Doctor Geoff Meaden spoke first, expert on flooding and sea level rises, talking articulately about the real effects of climate change happening now and the imminent climate catastrophe if we continue with the status quo. Dr. Meaden also successfully managed to bring the effects of climate change home to Aberdeenshire, speaking about unprecedented flooding frequency near Elgin (at which point the jury were scribbling their notes furiously) Alice Bows spoke next, honestly and convincingly, and made the connection between Aviation and climate change indisputable. Some of her points about the Climate Change Bill’s targets were shocking. She told the court that even if we met the climate target of 80% reduction by 2050 we still only have a 50-50 chance of avoiding “dangerous climate change”. Scary but motiving to say the least.

Unfortunately with our defence starting came some massively hard decisions. We all had strong and varying opinions and 9 advocates chewing our ears off too. We had to decide if we were going to call the last two of our climate experts and whether we, as the accused, would speak.

They were both difficult decisions to make as a group but consensus worked for us and allowed us to come out the other side alive and black-eye free. We decided due to logistical reasons and advice from our Advocates that we wouldn’t call the last two witnesses Jenny Griffiths and Tim Jones (the judge had already said Patrick Harvie – MSP and convener of the climate change committee – was not relevant).

However, the hardest decision was definitely about speaking ourselves. We felt torn between wanting to participate in our own trial and explain our motivations and the risks we faced through cross examination. In the end we decided not to stand as witnesses, to keep the focus on the real problem of climate change instead of getting dragged into talking about the technicalities of the alleged offence.

The closing speeches by our advocates took all day today, eclipsing the feeble attempt to criminalise us by the prosecution. They spoke about right to protest, the necessity of civil disobedience, the disproportionate response of the state to our actions and climate change as an indisputable fact in court. The jury seemed interested throughout lets hope they took some of it on board.

The biggest thing that hit us was the dichotomy between the archaic legal system and the reality of why we were there. Sitting in a court room listening to seemingly insignificant legal technicalities when we know the severity of the situation, doesn’t make sense. By 2050 it is predicted that 50% of current species on the planet will be extinct due to inability to adapt to rapid climate changes. What a messed up world we live in, and exactly why we must take action now.

It has been a massive learning curve, we hope to pass on the knowledge. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

A recap on the story so far

On March 3rd 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 now being created to share the stories with others on how to build a winning fight in the eyes of the public and the environment no matter how slow the judicial system may be to catch on. Thank you!!!

What we want

We want the the courts to pursue climate criminals such as BAA, who are getting away with murdering our ecosystems, causing death and destruction in poor countries and misery for local people living near their Airports. We want the legal system to end it’s persecution of climate activists such as the climate 9 and other climate defenders. Most flight destinations can easily be reached by bus, rail and ferry. We want to stop unnecessary short haul flights and airport expansion, stop aviation advertising, and take steps that ensure a just transition to sustainable jobs and transport Climate activists, take action in public and are fully accountable for our actions. We want the police 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 climate change We want an end to government sponsorship of the aviation industry, currently subsidised by the UK taxpayer for £9 Billion a year, subsidies that benefit the wealthiest and that could be used for sustainable transport projects. The IPCC says that current emissions need to be cut by at least 80% by 2050. This target is now a major national commitment, enshrined in both UK and Scottish climate legislation. Yet the UK’s Aviation White Paper and the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework are both contradictory to climate legislation. As the climate and the future of the biosphere are more important than the expansion of the aviation industry, we demand that the climate legislation is given precedence and enforced

What we believe

Climate change is the gravest threat to human survival and the future of our planet and as such, corporations and institutions that continue to emit large volumes of CO2 are committing a crime. We believe that it is climate crimes that should be pursued by the courts and not the climate 9 That climate justice and climate defence are movements inextricably woven with community movements, initiatives and struggles, that forms a wide progressive movement that includes intergenerational justice movements, racial justice movements, global and local poverty struggles and social justice movements, public health and others Thank you once again Jimmy Kerr and all the Climate9 and Miriam Rose; Climate9 Defence Committee www.climate9.com