Jo Poulton: My witness statement

Jo Poulton

Jo Poulton is an Extinction Rebellion activist and believes sustainable lifestyles should be accessible to all. She donates eco-friendly access kits to Bristol charities as @wastenotbristol and is currently raising money for Avon Needs Trees.

On Thursday 6th February 2020, I was found guilty of Aggravated Trespass at London City Airport and sentenced to 9 months conditional discharge and a fine of £421. This is the statement I intended to make in full in court but with the help of my solicitor I was able to say most of it from the witness box.

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to the magistrate and court for listening to me today.

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge a few of my privileges: the first being able to take part in non-violent direct action without fear of my life. Across the world we see peaceful protests met with violence. Met with fascism and a totalitarian government. Met with institutionalized racism that communities of colour face despite being in more immediate danger from the threats of the oncoming climate and ecological emergency. As a white British citizen, I am hugely privileged.

I would also like to acknowledge the respect I have for the law, and the democratic process that creates it, and the value of a just society. I acknowledge that we have a personal duty to abide by these laws, but I also acknowledge our human responsibility to act when we witness injustice.

I grew up in a small village in the North of the UK, where shared resources and community were at the heart of my childhood. From the age of 3 I recognised that I cared deeply about the Earth, the people and all life on it. This passion is what led me to the DLR entrance of London City Airport, and it is what has led me to be here today, defending myself in solidarity with those who do not have the privilege to do so.

At 16, I became head of the eco-committee at my secondary school and went on to organise litter picks along the Bournemouth beachfront at University, and most recently set up a social enterprise, outside of my full time job, that provides plastic free starter kits for people who cannot afford to invest in more eco-friendly products.

I am now 26 years old and living with a widely acknowledged climate crisis on the horizon. It is so dire that I am fearful of having children. This is no world for life to be sustained, let alone created. So, it is my moral duty to act urgently in solidarity with those on the frontline of this crisis. Indigenous people, who have looked after the land in perfect balance for millennia, are being forced out of their homes around the world due to raging fires and severe flooding, from Navajo reservations to the Pacific Islands.

By 2050, one in nine people on the planet will be on the move due to climate change and its consequences. This isn’t just country to country migration, it will also be internal as people flee coastal flooding around the globe.

Every year, more people are killed defending the environment than soldiers on overseas deployment from the UK and Australia combined. During the last 15 years, both the number of deaths of environmental defenders, and the countries in which they occur, have increased. Recorded deaths have increased from two per week to four per week over this period.

One of the biggest contributions to carbon emissions, thus a threat to our national health and security, is the aviation industry. For a long time, I did not realize how I was complicit in the climate chaos that causes the extinction of 28 species a day. When I learnt just how damaging flying was, it felt highly hypocritical to travel so far to marvel at the beauty of other countries whilst knowing my doing so was directly damaging that beauty and the natives of that land.

I am now vegan, avoid plastic, try to buy organic, don't own a car, shop ethically and in late 2018 I pledged to never fly again. This means I may not see my twin sister, who migrated to Sydney, for years at a time. Right now, she is struggling to breathe and wears a mask regularly due to the bushfires that have spun out of control. Closer to home, friends in Derby are at immediate risk of flooding. Climate Change is a present and immediate threat of injury. Where I live in Bristol, the air pollution is already illegal, a study released by UK100 revealed between 200-260 premature deaths are attributable to air pollution every year in Bristol alone.

The climate crisis is a global issue that will affect us all, even if we do not realise it yet. We must act faster – and together. We all share the same atmosphere.

It was never my intention to obstruct or disrupt those going about their daily lives — the goal of the action was to raise awareness of the climate crisis and its direct ties to the aviation industry. In 2018, 126.2 million passengers were British – totalling 8.6 per cent, roughly one in 12, of all international travellers. I had hoped to reach out to passengers in the hope they would consider the consequences of their actions, especially given how it negatively impacts the communities on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Knowing what we do now, it is our responsibility to recognise the luxury of flying and hugely decrease our national footprint. London City Airport claims to be carbon neutral but they do not factor in the carbon emissions of any of the aircrafts landing or taking off.

The government is breaking the UN convention on Human Rights article 2 by planning to expand 21 airports in the UK and lying through omission about the lethal implications to the health of our people and planet. Withholding this information is a crime against humanity. To expand airports any further would be to commit ecocide.