Activists from Scientist Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion Spain have sprayed the Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie family’s $300m megayacht with biodegradable paint. This is the second time the yacht has been targeted this year.

They sprayed biodegradable red paint onto the superyacht before unfurling a banner reading: “Billionaires should not exist.”

In July, campaign group Futuro Vegetal used biodegradable paint to coat the back of the yacht, moored in Ibiza, in red and black.

Scientist Rebellion says its denouncing billionaires’ enormous impact on the climate crisis.

“We can’t ask the average person to reduce CO2 emissions when billionaires emit one million times more,” says the organisation.

The group’s demands include banning megayachts. It says: “The 300 largest mega-yachts in operation emit 285,000 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions of an entire country. The annual maintenance cost of the world’s 6,000 largest megayachts could wipe out the debt of the so-called developing countries.”

Scientsi Rebellion is also looking to make polluters pay.

“It is only fair that the richest pay for their climate damage. We call for a wealth tax to contribute to Climate loss and Damage Funds for the people and areas most affected to mitigate and adapt to the worst impacts of climate change,” says a statement.

According to CNN, activists accessed Marina Port Vell, a dock for superyachts, at 0700 on Friday (8 September 2023).

“At the end of another exceptional summer in terms of record temperatures and extreme weather events, the richest 1 per cent of people on the planet continue to pollute more than the poorest 50 per cent. Mega-yachts are one of the most obvious examples of a lifestyle that is unsustainable for the planet,” a spokesperson told the paper.

A spokesperson for Marina Port Vell said that the boat had not been damaged in Friday’s action. “After a quick action on behalf of the security team, the incident has been corrected and the boat is now in a perfect state.”

“The scientific evidence is overwhelming – we will continue to see more climate records and more intense and frequent extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems, until we stop emitting greenhouse gases,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service told CNN.

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