Greenpeace Stages Protest at Amsterdam Airport Against COVID-19 Payments to Airlines

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) Members of the Greenpeace environmental organization staged a protest at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport demanding adjustment of support payments to air polluting airlines, the organization said on Thursday.

"KLM [formerly the flag carrier of the Netherlands, presently part of Air France] receives assistance worth billions of Euros, although the company does not even have a climate plan and pays almost no taxes. Attempts to help the industry during this crisis should not plunge us into even a worse climate crisis. It is unacceptable to provide assistance in the form of checks with no indication of the amount to major sources of air pollution.

The government must accept climate-sensitive conditions for this multi-billion assistance," the organization said on its website.

Greenpeace activists took to the runway of the Amsterdam airport with banners and placards in a protest action dubbed "Return to normal life = return to climate crisis."

According to the organizers, emissions of aircraft pollute air and lead to global warming.

Activists demand immediate action for the protection of nature, claiming that the environment can suffer even more due to the political decisions made during the pandemic after the coronavirus-related lockdowns are lifted.