Greenpeace activists spray painted an Air France plane in a protest coinciding with President Emmanuel Macron’s new climate change bill.
The group made its way on to a runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Friday and daubed green paint on a parked Boeing 777.
Two protesters used a spray gun and a roller to paint the jet, while others used a ladder to climb on top of the plane, which had no passengers on board.
They unfurled banners that read ‘Climate Law: It does not fly high’, ‘Is there a pilot to save the climate?’ and ‘The solution: fewer planes’.
Greenpeace said the protest was in opposition to Mr Macron’s new climate change bill, widely seen as a means to burnish his environmental credentials ahead of the 2022 elections.
However, the group said the bill was “greenwashing” and not a far-reaching response to climate change.
🔴Direct Action - vous voulez voir un avion vert ?
— Greenpeace France (@greenpeacefr) March 5, 2021
Alors que l'urgence climatique exige une réduction du trafic aérien, @Djebbari_JB pense encore qu'un (hypothétique) avion vert suffira.
Nous dénonçons le greenwashing du gouvernement. #OnAtterritQuand #LoiClimat pic.twitter.com/jvRtKleD8V
The bill, under consideration by MPs, seeks to abolish short flights, ban the advertising of fossil fuels and take the most-polluting vehicles off the roads by 2030, among other measures.
However, the government's own independent climate watchdog said the measures would have a "limited impact" on reducing emissions.
Greenpeace said the bill still allows for airport extensions, more than a dozen of which it claims are planned.