Climate activists have spray painted a private jet orange at a municipal airport in Germany, protesting government inaction over climate change.
The Last Generation, a group of climate activists based in Germany, released video footage of its members spray painting the private jet and hanging two banners from the wings of the aircraft at Sylt Airport (GWT).
According to a press release by The Last Generation the banners read “Your luxury = our drought” and “Your luxury = our crop failures”.
While the aircraft’s registration is not visible, a small Austrian flag on the horizontal stabilizer suggests that the affected jet was a Cessna 525 Citation CJ1+, registered OE-FMD.
According to flightradar24.com data, the Citation CJ1+ private jet arrived at GWT on June 4, 2023, on a flight from Dusseldorf Monchengladbach Airport (MGL).
“Mr. Scholz’s tackling [of climate change – ed. note] consists on the one hand of ever further delays in matters of climate protection and on the other hand of a plan that the Federal Constitutional Court has described as insufficient,” the group said in a statement.
“To date, the Scholz government has not presented a concrete plan on how to meet its own climate targets,” the statement continued.
The group highlighted that Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, previously said that owners of private jets, yachts, and limousines would not give up their assets voluntarily, requiring laws to lower emissions from such belongings.
The group said: “You, Mr. Scholz, are Chancellor of the SPD. You campaigned with justice. It is the central value of social democracy. However, if a few are unduly destroying the planet and everyone else suffers, where is the justice?”
According to reports by German daily BILD, local authorities have launched an investigation into the protest, examining whether there was any coercion or property damage.
“The amount of property damage is not yet known,” a police spokesperson told BILD.
BILD also reported that a real estate mogul from Grevenbroich, Germany, the owner of the aircraft, refused to comment on the story.
