- May 22, 2013
- One Comment
- Front Carousel, Latest Updates, Shell
Indigenous communities put the heat on Shell!
Yesterday I attended Shell’s Annual General Meeting in The Hague, to address the board and shareholders. Shell, one of the largest multinational corporations in the world and a company that prides itself in having strong stakeholder relations, was taken aback by a barrage of questions from shareholders and groups attending. Shareholders questioned Shell’s inability to effectively and adequately meet the needs of local communities, basic safety standards, changing global energy models and economies, global climate change, and basic business standards of corporate social responsibility. Shell is a company that’s modelling its business projections on scenarios in line with a 6-degree global temperature rise, doubling its already huge tar sands developments on the traditional territory of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation [...]
Read More...UK’s pro-tar sands stance exposed, and showdown with Shell
Dear friends, Last week, two of the world’s leading scientists travelled to Europe to counter some of the outrageous lobbying coming from the tar sands industry and the Canadian government against EU climate legislation. The trip, by US climate expert Jim Hansen and Canadian environmental economist Mark Jaccard, included giving evidence to the European Parliament, meetings with national governments, and plenty of media coverage making the point that the tar sands need to stay in the ground. The trip appeared to spur the Canadians into sending their second Minister to Europe in two weeks, giving us the opportunity for a quick protest in Brussels. Perhaps most importantly, the visit prompted the revelation in the Guardian that the UK government is [...]
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- May 20, 2013
- 3 Comments
- EU Legislation, Front Carousel, Latest Updates, Press Releases, Shell
Indigenous communities oppose ‘extreme energy’ at Shell’s AGM
Shell to face barrage of criticism tomorrow over financially risky and environmentally damaging new projects. As the business case for tar sands extraction falters, Arctic drilling is suspended, and the company is investigated for price fixing, Shell’s board will be under pressure to defend the direction it is taking at its AGM in The Hague on Tuesday 21 May. You can watch a live webcast of the event if you register. Two Indigenous women, representing communities impacted by Shell’s operations abroad, will attend the AGM to confront the Chairman and Board over the massive human and ecological rights violations and economic devastation that the company’s operations bring to Indigenous communities. They will argue that Shell’s decision to pursue highly risky [...]
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- May 16, 2013
- One Comment
- EU Legislation, Front Carousel, Latest Updates, Press Releases
UK caught in battle over Canadian tar sands
Leading scientists in London today to advise UK government on tar sands damage Leak reveals government’s pro-tar sands stance, Norman Baker’s response unconvincing Second Canadian Minister in two weeks visits UK on lobbying mission Comprehensive new tar sands fact-check website launches Today the UK government is under fire for rejecting an EU proposal to classify oil from tar sands as highly polluting, a label that would deter EU countries from importing it. As revealed in the Guardian yesterday, the UK government supports a controversial methodology for the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) legislation which would treat tar sands oil the same as conventional oil, despite it being 23% more polluting. Transport Minister Norman Baker has hit back at the allegations, [...]
Read More...Gross bias on BBC radio Oxford
Guest blog by Chris Garrard On Thursday, staff, students and alumni at Oxford University were united in their opposition to a new partnership between Shell and the university’s Earth Sciences department: there were protests outside the launch event, a letter to the editor of The Guardian condemning the partnership and protesters gatecrashed the celebratory dinner later that evening. I was asked to give an interview on BBC Radio Oxford’s Drivetime programme with David Prever (starting at about 1:33 h in, will be available until Thursday, May 16) that evening to explain the arguments behind the opposition and to talk about the new Fossil Free campaign . However, David Prever had other ideas. Fancying himself as the next Paxman, Prever [...]
Read More...Shell outrage in Oxford, and James Hansen coming to town!
Dear friends, Yesterday, Oxford University announced a new partnership with Shell. That’s Shell, the largest producer in the tar sands. Shell, which wants to DOUBLE its tar sands extraction capacity despite opposition from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and many others. Shell, whose business model is based on the exponential production of fossil fuels, hurtling us towards the point of no return from climate disaster… So we joined with many others for a day of opposition that included: a letter in the Guardian signed by 75 alumni, staff and students; a protest byaround 40 people outside the launch event attended by Secretary of State Ed Davey; a motion opposing the partnership that was passed by Oxford Students’ Union; and a [...]
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- May 9, 2013
- One Comment
- Front Carousel, Latest Updates, Press Releases, Shell
Outrage in Oxford as University launches partnership with Shell
Protests from students, staff and alumni as Energy Minister Ed Davey attends opening ceremony Today Oxford University launched a new research partnership with Shell, and opened the Shell Geoscience Laboratory. The ceremony was attended by Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and Alison Goligher, Shell’s Executive Vice-President for Unconventionals. The partnership with the Earth Sciences Department has drawn criticism from alumni, staff and students in a letter published in today’s Guardian. There are over 75 signatories (with more continuing to come in) including prominent environmentalists Jonathon Porritt, George Monbiot and Jeremy Leggett, Emeritus Fellow of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute Brenda Boardman, and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare [...]
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- May 2, 2013
- One Comment
- EU Legislation, Latest Updates
Creating a future we want: How Europe can stop tar sands expansion
By Emily Coats, cross-posted from the Extreme Energy Initiative, Human Rights Consortium The tar sands megaproject is a striking example of what happens when money, greed and die-hard adherence to the status quo dominate our idea of ‘progress’: it results in the destruction of entire ecosystems and the ‘slow industrial genocide’ of First Nations. The industry likes to boast of its humble beginnings, how against all odds it broke through technological constraints to access this valuable resource. But what it has created is a monstrosity, which is obliterating a centuries-old way of life for indigenous peoples, spewing toxins into the local environment, and sending us hurtling towards catastrophic climate change. Propped up by inordinate tax cuts from the Canadian and [...]
Read More...Jam-packed week of tar-stopping action!
Dear friends from around the world, Last week was a busy – and immensely satisfying – week for tar sands-stoppers in the UK. Thursday saw us in not one, but two actions! We started early in the morning with our many collaborators, to welcome US Secretary of State John Kerry as he arrived to the G8 foreign ministers’ meeting. You might think – “good ol’ British hospitality!”, but actually, the 60 people who gathered on a drizzly London morning were there to tell him that we want him to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline! We then headed to BP’s Annual General Meeting, where two of our campaigners were denied entry. This didn’t stop the many other campaigners who [...]
Read More...Watch out, Valero!
Manchester, Texas Pembrokeshire, Wales Few things put the wind up a corporation more than when its critics start to unite. Making every issue seem isolated and insignificant is a perpetual tactic to divide and conquer dissenting voices – so showing that each case is symptomatic of a wider problem is a powerful way to disarm them. We’ve been successful in the past in bringing together impacted communities affected by BP in the tar sands, US Gulf Coast, and West Papua, and affected by Shell in Canada, Nigeria, Rossport and the Arctic. The next target for transatlantic information sharing was US refining company Valero, which operates mainly around North America, but for one lone refinery in Europe, which happens to be [...]
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