Greenpeace stunt as aircraft painted green in protest over France's climate crisis response

The Air France aircraft was parked on the tarmac at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle International airport.
The Air France aircraft was parked on the tarmac at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle International airport. Copyright ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
By Euronews with AFP
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Several of the protesters stood on the plane's wings, carrying banners reading: "Is there a pilot to save the climate?"

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Environmental activists from Greenpeace have protested at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport by painting an Air France plane.

Members of the organisation demonstrated on the tarmac to "denounce the government's greenwashing on air transport".

Nine activists, dressed in yellow and white, climbed the outer fence of the airport on Friday morning and applied green paint to a Boeing 777 Air France aircraft parked on the tarmac. There were no passengers on board at the time.

Videos on social media showed Greenpeace using spray paint and a long roller to colour the plane's left side green.

Several of the protesters stood on the plane's wings, carrying banners reading: "Is there a pilot to save the climate?"

Authorities at the airport in Roissy stated on Twitter the activists were "immediately intercepted" and detained by police.

"An investigation will be carried out into the conditions of this intrusion, which constitutes an offence".

The airport added that the demonstrators were not able to access the airport's runways. Air France and the manager of Paris airports, the ADP Group, announced that they were filing a complaint.

"Faced with the climate crisis, it is necessary to regulate and reduce air traffic so that it is compatible with the Paris Agreement while anticipating the reconversion of this sector and the social consequences that this would have for all affected workers," Greenpeace France said in a statement.

The NGO argues that recent proposals by France's transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, will not be enough to tackle the climate crisis.

French lawmakers are due to debate the country's new climate bill in a special committee from Monday before it heads to parliament later this month.

The law includes a provision to prohibit internal flights in France when there is an alternative train journey of fewer than two hours.

Greenpeace says the measures are not ambitious enough and have called for the abandonment of a dozen airport extension projects.

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