On Monday a judge of the Supreme Court in Nantes announced the verdict to evict the historical inhabitants of the Notre-Dame-des-Landes (NDDL) area where a new airport is slated to be built by the French State. This new airport would be located 30km north of Nantes and constructed by multinational Vinci.
Eight of the eleven families were granted a two-month period to leave, until March 26. "In fact the protection granted to housing also protects the farms," said Defence lawyer Mr. Le Moigne. The three other families affected by the evictions have no more time on the Zad and must leave immediately.
On the same day in London climate activists from Plane Stupid were convicted for their occupation of a Heathrow airport runway in July 2015 over plans to extend the airport by the Cameron conservative government, breaking an election promise.
Civil aviation is one sector where carbon emissions are rapidly growing contributing to climate change, with little being done to constrain or reduce greenhouse gas pollution from this and the associated shipping industry. Currently 5 per cent of global emissions, more than the UK and Germany combined, come from shipping and aviation. The UN climate conference in Paris considered this sector in the draft versions of the agreement, but any mention of this sector was dropped from the final agreement.
