Climate activism: is the trial more important than the protest?
Aberdeen airport, we look at how courtroom manoeuvres form a crucial part of the
package
on the tarmac of Aberdeen airport before locking themselves to a barricade to
disrupt the morning’s flights.
The
flights.
Their protest back in March 2010 came to an end after five hours when they were
told by police that their actions were endangering an emergency helicopter flight
to help a critically-ill baby.
This was disproved during the subsequent trial at Aberdeen Sherriffs Court, but
the group’s members, who call themselves the ‘
fines ranging from £300 to £700 each.
It was a different outcome than the 2008 English case of the ‘Kingsnorth Six’,
where the defendants successfully argued that the shutting down and painting of
‘Gordon’ onto the cooling stack of a coal fired power station in Kent had ‘lawful
excuse’ because of damage caused to the planet by carbon dioxide emissions.
That verdict was heralded as a turning point by environmentalists, but the Aberdeen
airport verdict suggests juries will still hold activists to account for damage
or losses caused as a result of their actions.
Unlike in the Kingsnorth case, the defence of ‘lawful excuse’ was not available
to the Aberdeen defendants. Instead their lawyers argued ‘necessity’ – a defence
which is seen as harder to win.
The fact the lives of members of the public were disrupted may have also reduced
the chances of the Aberdeen airport defendants being acquitted, according to one
of the Kingsnorth Six.
‘It’s common sense that it’s easier to persuade the public of the validity of
the action if the public aren’t inconvenienced. In the Kingsnorth action, it was
a power station behind a large fence belonging to a big company. The public weren’t
adversely affected,’ said Ben Stewart, one of the activists who scaled the 220
meter high tower at the Kingsnorth power station in 2007.
have received up to five years in jail. In the end they were given only modest
fines, but one of those convicted in the case, Dan Glass, says harsher punishments
won’t dissuade activists from similar actions in the future.
‘The more people see the wings of state trying to put us away while scientists
support what we’re doing, the more we will see civil disobedience in the face
of government failure on climate change,’ said Glass.
Evidence from the US appears to support Glass’ argument.
‘If you look at the example of high profile activists in the US, such as Rod
Coronado, who was put behind bars for disrupting the hunting of mountain lions,
his imprisonment had a mobilising rather than a demobilsing effect,’ said Lesley
Wood, Profesor of Sociology at York University in Toronto.
As Richard George, co-founder of the environmental activist group Plane Stupid,
puts it: ‘Some people are put off, but far more are pissed off and galvanised
into activity.’
But activist Ben Stewart believes fewer people may consider environmental direct
action if the sentences become harsher.
‘Most people that do these things are normal people, with the same financial
and work constraints as anyone else. It’s extremely difficult to throw caution
to the wind and say you’ll take whatever they give you. But if you give a prison
sentence to direct activists, you make martyrs of them – the courts are mindful
of this,’ said Stewart.
significant part of the nine climate activist’s campaign. Having rebranded themselves
as the ‘Climate 9’, they set up a website featuring commentary on the case and
a forum where they received hundreds of messages of support.
‘Before we stepped on the runway, we knew that the court case would be a significant
part of our action,’ said Glass.
of groups that don’t usually campaign on environmental issues.
‘One of our supporters is the Church of Scotland, who acknowledged that breaking
the law was legitimate in our situation.’
The court case also provided a forum in which government environment policy was
scrutinised.
Dr. Alice Bows, lecturer in Energy and Climate Change at Manchester University,
and retired lecturer and UN advisor Dr. Geoff Meaden, both of whom gave evidence
in the Kingsnorth trial, gave a damning opinion of the UK Government response
to climate change.
Dr. Meaden said Plane Stupid, whose members were involved in the protest, ‘must
take every opportunity to bring the urgency of climate change to the public attention.’
to believe that they were endangering the life of a critically ill baby.
‘This doesn’t help change people’s perception that the police can be unscrupulous
and heavy-handed in their dealings with environmental protestors,’ said Glass.
‘It just shows the lengths that the state is prepared to go to to stop us from
having our voices heard,’ he added.
The National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (NETCU), which collects information
on suspected extremists, acknowledges that environmentalists now feature highly
in their intelligence gathering and say that it is sometimes necessary to hold
informtion on lawful protesters ‘to make effective risk assessments in the future.’
Last year, NETCU intelligence led to the arrest of 114 environmental protesters
believed to be planning a direct action protest at a coal fire power station near
Nottingham.
in November. But far from dreading the hearing, he and the other defendants are
busy deciding on how to make the most of their court appearance.
‘We’re currently holding meetings on how best to campaign around the trial and
how to use it to highlight the impact of the Ratcliffe power station,’ said Glass.
‘It’s also an opportunity to draw attention to the way police gather intelligence
on activists,’ he added.
Glass and other activists believe the public would be dismayed to see an environmental
protester imprisoned for an action that posed no risk to human life and, in the
case of the Ratcliffe Power Station protest, hasn’t even happened yet.
‘We’re torn. Obviously we don’t want to go to jail but we recognise that a prison
sentence would be extremely significant and would highlight the contradictions
of the UK’s environmental policy,’ said Glass.
‘I’m more than ready to go to prison; in many ways it could be a great thing,’
he added.
of vandalism were dropped. The charges were significantly reduced over the course
of the 2 week trial. Sentence was deferred until August. The protesters were campaigning
against any expansion of the airport, claiming it would lead to more harmful carbon
emissions. The 9 are celebrating their victory in showing that peaceful protest
is a necessary and legitimate way to take the action needed on climate change.
25.6.2010
has started in Aberdeen. Their action was designed to stop carbon emissions from
aviation and to highlight the links between Donald Trump’s planned hotel and golf
course complex and the expansion of Aberdeen airport. The Climate 9 are arguing
the defence of necessity. They argue that their actions were justified because
they were trying to prevent runaway climate change.
vandalism and breach of the peace. Their defence, at the most important climate
change trial ever in Scotland, will be that they committed a smaller crime, in
order to prevent a larger one. That was the defence that won the case for the
Kingsnorth Six in ~September 2008. You can send the Climate9 a message of support,
or read the dozens from around the world.