Why we shut Stansted Airport

Monday's action has shown the power of young people determined to turn the climate talk into climate action. We took the decision to disrupt the airport to directly reduce the CO2 impact of Stansted, as a response to the government's consent to its expansion. We did so with heavy hearts, knowing it would disrupt passengers, because we knew the consequences of this action couldn't be worse than the consequences of inaction. If irreversible climate change kicks in, millions of lives will be destroyed.

We are genuinely grateful for the level of support from people who have agreed with us that desperate times call for desperate measures. We have used this action to ask for everyone to 'please, do something'. We hope that all those that have expressed support for today's action will now think about what they are going to do to ensure the survival of our planet and people on it.

The nature of climate change means that we have only seven years to make massive cuts before the extinction of millions of species and even the human race is inevitable. As a group of people at the beginning of our adult life, we deserve to inherit a world worth living in and we intend to take responsibility and defend that right through whatever peaceful means we have left.

Plane Stupid has used all avenues available to highlight the hypocrisy of governments in promising to both expand airports and stop climate change. The science proves that the two things are totally contradictory. The government is knowingly deceiving the public when they say they can do both. From letters, to meetings, to simple publicity stunts, to climbing on top of Parliament - we have done all we can to raise the climate alarm. We have tried to report the crime of collusion that the government has committed with BAA and despite the evidence we have, the police are refusing to investigate them. If all official channels fail, we are committed to using our bodies to physically stop carbon emissions.

We face the legal consequences of our actions knowing that for this movement the Stansted action is only the beginning. The UK has to make massive cuts in carbon today, not in 50 years. Plane Stupid will be taking direct action until we see the UK taking climate change seriously.