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Climate Crisis

No to El Prat Airport Expansion — Yes to Investment in Public, Environmentally Friendly Transport

STOP Ampliacio Aeroport
Photo: “Barcelona El Prat Airport” by Stay Grounded Network is licensed under CC BY 2.0
ISA Worldwide
Spain
Alternativa Socialista
Socialist Alternative

Sunday 19 September in Barcelona 90,000 people demonstrated against the expansion of Barcelona’s El Prat airport and in defence of the environment. Join our international mobilisation to protest against COP26 in November!

Tuesday, 21 September 2021 14:45 (UTC)
Last Update: Tuesday, 21 September 2021 14:46 (UTC)
Marisa Cabal
Parti Socialiste de Lutte — ISA in Belgium
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Extreme weather events are increasing in number. This summer, in addition to the pandemic, there have been floods, heat-waves, and the worst forest fires in decades. The last five years have been the warmest temperatures on record. The latest IPCC report confirms beyond doubt that global warming has been the result of human activity since 1950. Even if immediate large-scale measures are taken, it will be impossible to limit the rise in temperature to below 1.5°C and some phenomena are already irreversible, such as the rise in sea levels.

An international movement is already underway to respond to the climate emergency. The demonstrations that will take place during the COP26 climate summit at the beginning of November in Glasgow, Scotland, will be an historic event. This struggle is also reflected in local movements such as Sunday 19 September in Barcelona, where 90,000 people demonstrated against the expansion of Barcelona’s El Prat airport and in defence of the environment.

The Spanish airport authority Aena’s proposal to expand the airport, promoted by more than 200 economic and business organisations, aims to create an “international hub” with up to 70 million passengers a year. The central government and the Catalan government, the Generalitat reached an agreement in early August that involved an investment of 1.7 billion euros. Although the government has decided to suspend the investment, the deadline for reaching a new agreement has been extended to 30 September. The 500-metre extension of the airport’s third runway would be built over the Ricarda lagoon, a protected natural area in the Llobregat Delta.

La Ricarda is an old river mouth, with a great biodiversity of native flora and fauna. Aena claims that for every hectare occupied, it will create ten more hectares of protected areas, but the reality is that this lagoon is unique and impossible to rebuild elsewhere. The conservation of areas such as the Llobregat Delta is essential to protect the coastal zone from rising sea levels, one of the irreversible consequences of climate change in the coming decades. If urgent measures are not taken to manage the whole area in a sustainable way, water and stones could reach the airport.

In addition, it is estimated that the expansion would lead to a 33% increase in CO2 emissions, i.e. 2.8 million tonnes more CO2 would be released into the atmosphere every year. Aena has not made any proposals on how to reduce these emissions, another example of how the capitalist elites have no intention of sacrificing their economic interests, and that under capitalism we will never manage to limit greenhouse gas emissions in time.

Another promise of the project is the creation of more than 80,000 direct jobs. But why not invest in the creation of green, well-paid jobs with good working conditions? The government would not have to withdraw the investment, but on the contrary: it would have to refinance public and green transport services. For short and medium-distance journeys, priority should be given to rail transport, allowing the creation of jobs and responding to the climate emergency at the same time.

The hypocrisy of the parties involved in the negotiations is plain for all to see. On the one hand, ERC (Social democratic, left nationalist party) accepted the agreement in August while declaring that it would attend the demonstration in Barcelona against the airport expansion! On the other hand, the government unilaterally decided to withdraw the 1.7 billion, pointing the finger at the Generalitat as the responsible party. And all this forms the backdrop to the negotiating table between Catalonia and Sánchez’s government.

Green capitalism is a farce. Private ownership of the means of production remains one of the main obstacles to tackling the climate crisis. We cannot leave the ecological transition in the hands of big business, its economic interests, and the politicians who serve them.

In order to free up the necessary resources in time, we must collectivise the entire energy and transport sector under democratic working-class control and management. Only in this way can we stop the chaos of the market economy and plan the economy rationally and democratically.

ISA says:

No to the expansion of El Prat airport, Yes to the conservation of the Ricarda lagoon;

Yes to investment in public and ecological transport, Yes to the creation of sustainable employment;

Yes to the nationalisation of the energy sector, under democratic working-class control and management;

To achieve the necessary revolutionary change we need to end capitalism : let’s fight for international socialism.

Join our international mobilisation to protest against COP26 in November HERE!

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No to El Prat Airport Expansion — Yes to Investment in Public, Environmentally Friendly Transport (21 Sep 2021)

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