Olympic organisers slammed over BP sponsorship
Environmental credentials of ‘sustainability’ partner labelled a ‘sick joke’
PRESS RELEASE: 17.2.2012
Today, an open letter [1] signed by a broad coalition of leading environmentalists, academics, politicians, campaigners, activists and representatives of devastated communities [2] has been sent to the organisers of London 2012, raising a series of concerns over BP’s sponsorship of the forthcoming Olympics.
The 34 signatories – which include representatives of Sierra Club US, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, as well as London Assembly member Jenny Jones and Nick Reeves OBE, Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management – have raised critical concerns over BP’s role as ‘Sustainability Partner’ [3]. The letter points out that given the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the company’s vast fossil fuel extraction activities around the globe, its recent entry into the highly-polluting tar sands and subsequent decision to close down its solar division, BP ‘is one of the least sustainable companies on earth’ and should not have been given such a prestigious environmental leadership role.
The letter comes in the wake of Meredith Alexander’s resignation from the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 – the Olympics’ eco-watchdog – over Dow’s sponsorship [4]. Addressed to the IOC, LOCOG and the Commission, it asks that the three organisations ‘reconsider the terms of the partnership with BP, and put in place a more stringent ethical sponsorship policy that is in line with Olympic principles and the Code of Ethics, that will prevent BP and similar companies basking in such undeserved glory in the future.’ It will be accompanied by a request for a meeting.
Jess Worth from the UK Tar Sands Network, which organised the initiative, said:
‘The choice of BP as Sustainability Partner for the London 2012 Olympics sounds like a sick joke, considering its record of environmental devastation around the world. There’s clearly an urgent need for the Olympics organisers to broaden their definition of ‘sustainability’ and start applying it to their choice of sponsor.’
The controversy surrounding BP’s Olympic sponsorship follows growing criticism from environmental and human rights groups over the company’s sponsorship of UK-based cultural institutions like Tate and the British Museum. At the end of 2011, more than 8,000 Tate members and visitors presented a petition to Tate at its Members’ AGM calling on the gallery to end its financial relationship with BP. [5]
For more information or interviews, please contact:
Jess Worth, UK Tar Sands Network, info@no-tar-sands.org
Kevin Smith, Platform, kevin@platformlondon.org
1. The letter can be found at http://www.no-tar-sands.org/campaigns/british-petroleum-bp/bps-sponsorship-of-london-2012-oilympics/letter/
2. The full list of signatories is: Tom Antebi, Counter Olympics Network; Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians; Liam Barrington-Bush, People & Planet; Craig Bennett, Director of Policy & Campaigns, Friends of the Earth; Carbon Trade Watch; Sam Chase, Art Not Oil; Julian Cheyne, Games Monitor; Danny Chivers, author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change; Tony Clarke, Director, Polaris Institute; Mark Gee, criminology consultant and writer; Tom B. K. Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network; Hannah Griffiths, Head of Policy and Campaigns, World Development Movement; Siobhan Grimes, Climate Rush; Jenny Jones, London Assembly Member; Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Greenpeace Canada; The Liberate Tate collective; Michael Marx, Beyond Oil Director, Sierra Club US; Winnie Overbeek, World Rainforest Movement; Occupy LSX Energy, Equity & Environment Working Group; Robert Palgrave, Biofuelwatch; Nick Reeves OBE, Executive Director, The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM); John Sauven, Director, Greenpeace UK; Dr Debra Benita Shaw, Senior Lecturer, Cultural Studies, University of East London; Andrew Simms, author of Eminent Corporations and Fellow of New Economics Foundation ; Kevin Smith, Platform; Richard Solly, London Mining Network; Jasmine Thomas, member of Saik’uz First Nation (affiliated with the Yinka Dene Alliance); Steve Tombs, Professor of Sociology, John Moores University; Dr Julie Uldam, Postdoctoral Researcher, London School of Economics and Political Science; Stewart Wallis, Director, New Economics Foundation; Diane Wilson, shrimper from the Gulf Coast and member of Calhoun County Resource Watch; Jess Worth, co-founder, UK Tar Sands Network ; Murray Worthy, War on Want; Kenny Young, founder, Artists Project Earth
3. For more information see http://www.bplondon2012.com/
4. See ‘Why I resigned over Bhopal’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/26/why-meredith-alexander-resigned-bhopal-olympic
5. See ‘Not If But When: Culture Beyond Oil’: http://blog.platformlondon.org/2011/11/27/read-online-now-not-if-but-when-culture-beyond-oil/
Tar Monsters on the loose!
Hello Tar Monster Thwarters!
There has been an incredible flurry of action in the past 48 hours as we escalate efforts to stop the UK from blocking the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD). And these are just the highlights! For more updates, check our facebook and twitter pages.
- Lewes tackles the Tar Monster
- HM Department for Tar Sands blockaded
- RBS caught out for climate greenwash
- Love oily paintings – hate oily money
Keep up the good work everyone – we’re nearly there!
Sue and Emily
1. Lewes tackles the Tar Monster
On Saturday we whizzed down to Lewes to meet up with our friends from South Coast Climate Camp, People and Planet, Lush, and Friends of the Earth Lewes. Residents and local activists sent a clear message to their MP Norman Baker that his move to block climate policy and further the interests of the tar sands industry is not on! As part of the Tar-Free Lewes campaign, Lush have had an image of Norman Baker tarred up in their stores in Brighton for the past week.
Continuing the theme of novelty-sized props, this action was characterized by an incredible giant tar monster puppet. Weaving its way around the Lewes High Street, the monster entertained dozens of children while their parents were illuminated about the metaphorical monstrosities happening in Alberta. The local community was shocked to hear that its formerly “eco” MP is now using wrecking tactics on essential climate policy. Many residents signed a petition to be sent to Norman ahead of the vote taking place in Brussels on Friday.
2. HM Department for Tar Sands blockaded
Norman Baker has insisted that he is trying to create an even more effective fuel policy than the one on the table. Yet, as was reiterated by this morning’s new evidence, Baker’s desire to delay the current proposal and research every fuel under the sun plays right into the hands of government and industry lobbyists. If tar sands wasn’t dominating the news enough already today, Greenpeace this morning blockaded the Department for Transport and rebranded it the Department for Tar Sands. This further escalates the campaign as we approach the EU member state vote this Friday, where we will see just how successful Baker has been at diluting other states’ climate policies. To have a go at steering Norman Baker in the right direction yourself, take People & Planet’s e-action.
3. RBS caught out for climate greenwash
Earlier this year you may remember that Climate Week‘s launch event was gatecrashed by dancing Greenwash Guerrillas. As part of a coalition of groups we pointed out the absurdity of RBS – the seventh largest global funder of tar sands companies – sponsoring an event claiming to be tackling climate change. Until very recently the company looked set to be a headline partner in 2012, but just a few days ago we heard RBS has “decided not to renew its sponsorship of Climate Week” ! This is a great boost to the campaign, in the words of Platform, “it prevents RBS from fending off mounting public pressure over its climate-trashing finance portfolio by saying, “how can we be the climate bad guys – we’re sponsoring Climate Week?””
Now we just need to get them to stop funding tar sands…
4. Love oily paintings – hate oily money
If you are free tomorrow night, join us as we help Platform celebrate the release of a great publication: ‘Not if but when: Culture Beyond Oil’. The beautifully designed ‘bookette’ discusses oil sponsorship of the arts and showcases images of all the amazing creative interventions that have been taking place to save our beloved art institutions from the stench of oil sponsorship. Don’t worry if you can’t make it down, you can still get involved by signing onto this letter calling on Nick Serota to dump BP sponsorship, or ordering a copy of ‘Not if but when: Culture Beyond Oil’.
BP’s spirit successfully exorcised from the Tate – for now…
Dearest brethren,
Monday saw extraordinary scenes as we joined Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthaluyah to exorcise the beast that is BP from the Tate Modern Turbine Hall. Filling the huge space inside the former power station with singing, clapping and chanting, crowds of people joined the Rev in a piece of protest performance art that was at times sombre, at times raucous, at times oily – and ultimately incredibly powerful. Watch the film (above) to find out what the hell we’re talking about.
We dedicated this action to our comrade Alex Lee, an amazing activist and all-round beautiful person, who recently died.
Meanwhile, things are hotting up across the pond. A group of prominent individuals, including Naomi Klein, Maude Barlow, James Hansen and our good friend George Poitras, have called on people across the US to take sustained direct action against the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline this summer. Activists in Montana were first off the blocks last week, with an occupation of the Governor of Montana’s offices.
Finally, the UK government is still blocking the inclusion of tar sands in the Fuel Quality Directive.
Grrrr. There’s going to be a lunchtime protest next Wednesday (27th) at Norman Baker’s London offices, where we will join with Avaaz, the Co-operative and others to hand in a petition of over 52,000 signatures. If anyone can make it, we’d love some support, so please email info@no-tar-sands.org for more details.
Earthaluyahs all round,
Jess, Sue and Emily
Reverend Billy leads mass exorcism in Tate Modern Turbine Hall over ‘taint’ of BP sponsorship
PRESS RELEASE For immediate release
18 July 2011
Reverend Billy leads mass exorcism in Tate Modern Turbine Hall over ‘taint’ of BP sponsorship
American performance group and British artists, activists and art lovers congregate in call for gallery to end its relationship with oil company
Monday (18 July) Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthalujah choir joined with art activists, artists, Tate members and concerned members of the public at 17.30 in the Tate Turbine Hall to lay hands on Tate Modern and cast out the demon of BP’s oil sponsorship of the art institution.
An exorcism of the evil spirit of BP was performed in a special service in the Turbine Hall of the national gallery of international modern art. The Reverend Billy had an oil-like substance dramatically poured over his white suit by his gospel choir before being escorted out of the building. The gospel choir sung choruses of “Tate takes money from BP, and BP’s money is the devil.”
The event was brought to Tate by five different UK-based groups – Liberate Tate, UK Tar Sands Network, London Rising Tide, Art Not Oil and Climate Rush – all of which have staged multiple performance interventions and protests at Tate, part of a growing movement to rid public arts institutions from oil companies with negative social and environmental impacts all around the world.
Reverend Billy, the world famous preacher, said: “For 20 long years, BP has embedded its foulness deep within Tate, using the fair face of the arts to mask the stench of its true nature. Today the possession of this dark beast lurking within the bosom of one of our most cherished arts institutions is coming to an end.”
“While good-hearted, god-fearing gallery-goers glory in the miracle of art, the beast below is encircling the planet with its oily tentacles, destroying righteous communities, poisoning God’s beauteous creations, and bringing us all ever closer to the climate apocalypse. Art will soon be free of big oil interests. Eviction has begun. Brothers and sisters, it’s time to liberate the Tate!”
Chris Sands, a participant in the performance said: “When Tate takes money from the fossil fuel industry it is endorsing climate change rather than backing activity which moves us away from an environmental crisis that is already destroying lives and livelihoods. We have to ensure our public arts institutions are financed responsibly, transparently and ethically for the good of the art world and the planet.”
Tate and other public cultural institutions have seen long-standing public concern about their relations with oil companies. The numbers of artists involved have grown over recent years with many hundreds of artists publicly demanding Tate end links with BP, and guerilla art performances adding to creative protests in Tate galleries. The exorcism comes less than a week after a ‘guerilla ballet’ performance took place at the BP-sponsored Big Screen in Trafalgar Square, highlighting the oil company’s involvement in destructive tar sands extraction in Canada.
BP continues to use its arts sponsorship to project a public image at odds with its operations and lobbying. As part of a multi-million pound effort to create a social license to operate, the company has launched its first television advertising campaign since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill which centres on its arts, culture and sports sponsorship in an attempt to alter public perception about the company.
*** ENDS ***
For further comment, call 07847 830164
Photos of the exorcism for commercial available through Rex Features.
Notes to editors:
The Guerilla Ballet performance took place on Wednesday evening in Trafalgar Square shortly before the BP-sponsored screening of the Royal Opera House’s Cinderella. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2011/jul/15/dance-oil-industry-arts-funding-ballet-bp
Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthalujah (www.revbilly.com) is part theatre piece, part church service, part performance art and wholly inspirational. The Church of Earthalujah condemns the corporate exploiters and polluters of the world to the Lake of Hellfire.
Liberate Tate (www.liberatetate.org) is an art collective exploring the role of creative intervention in social change dedicated to taking creative disobedience against Tate until it drops its oil company funding. Contact: liberatetate@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScr www.twitter.com/liberatetate.
UK Tar Sands Network (www.no-tar-sands.org) campaigns in partnership with Indigenous communities affected by the Tar Sands oil developments in Canada. It targets UK and European companies, banks and governments involved in the world’s most destructive project. Contact info@no-tar-sands.org.
London Rising Tide (www.londorisingtide.org.uk) takes creative action on the root causes of climate chaos, and promotes socially just, ecological alternatives to the fossil fuel madness that we’re living through. Contact: london@risingtide.org.uk
Art Not Oil (www.artnotoil.org.uk) encourages artists – and would-be artists – to create work that explores the damage that companies like BP and Shell are doing to the planet, and the role art can play in counteracting that damage. Contact info@artnotoil.org.uk.
Climate Rush (www.climaterush.co.uk) is a Suffragettes-inspired group taking responsibility now to prepare for the future through direct action against climate criminals and their allies. Contact: media@climaterush.co.uk.
‘Guerilla Ballet’ disrupts BP-sponsored opera event in Trafalgar Square
Swan Lake ballet dancer smeared with oil
Wednesday 13th July, 2011 – For immediate release
For further information and photos contact Jess Worth from the UK Tar Sands Network on 07807095669 and for interviews with the prima ballerina, contact Emily Coats 07831383866.
Three ballet dancers interrupted BP’s third and final Summer Screen in Trafalgar Square[1], 30 minutes before the scheduled broadcast of the opera Cinderella began. The disturbance took the form of a short piece of dance based on Swan Lake [2], with the classic tale used as analogy for BP’s controversial investment in the Canadian tar sands [3],[4]. The performance featured the White Swan being smeared by an oily substance and suffocated with a cloth. The crowd of opera-lovers were very receptive, greeting the grand finale with applause and cheers.
Charlie Byers, who played the prince, explained: “The tar sands are one of the biggest threats to the future of our climate [5]; they are also destroying local communities and wildlife, trampling indigenous rights, and running Canada out of water and natural gas. It is a key time to pressure BP to withdraw, as the corporation has already substantially invested in the tar sands but will not start profiting for years to come.”
Emily Coats, a campaigner with the UK Tar Sands Network, who played the White Swan Odette, said: “Most people have never heard of tar sands, and BP would be happy to keep it that way. We used classical dance – an unusual campaigning medium – to introduce the issue to a new audience. The performance was meant to be enjoyed, but also to shock, with a visible struggle between a vulnerable creature and a powerful oil giant.”
Will McCallum, of campaign group Art of Activism, who played the ‘BP’ villain Rothbart, said: “By sponsoring the Summer Screens, BP is bringing art to thousands of people, but it is also creating a false image which hides its dirty investments. Public pressure has in the past caused institutions to stop accepting sponsorship from destructive companies. Without being able to put its name by our beloved cultural institutions, BP would suffer a real blow to its public legitimacy.”
ENDS
Images from last night’s event now on Rex Features website and available for media use.
Notes for editors:
[1] BP sponsors the Royal Opera House’s “Summer Screens” where ballets and operas are broadcast live in public spaces around the UK, including Trafalgar Square, for audiences to watch for free. The scheduled performance on 13th July was the opera Cendrillon (Cinderella).
[2] For a full synopsis of the piece, see bpwhiteswan.org
[3] BP announced in December 2010 its investment in the Sunrise Project, shared with Canadian company Husky Energy. Extraction is due to begin in 2014. http://www.no-tar-sands.org/campaigns/british-petroleum-bp/
[4] Canadian tar sands are the world’s largest and dirtiest industrial project: exacerbating global warming through deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, causing rare forms of cancer amongst First Nations communities, destroying vast tracts of forest habitat and threatening wildlife to extinction. For more information see no-tar-sands.org and oilsandstruth.org
[5] NASA Scientist James Hansen has said that irreversible climate change is inevitable if all the oil in Canada’s tar sands is burned. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/feb/17/barack-obama-canada-climate-change
High res images available – email info@no-tar-sands.org
BP and RBS targetted by Tar Sands Tour
Dear AGM-stormers,
A lot has happened since our last newsletter: our First Nations crew (Clayton, Jasmine and Melina) have arrived, we’ve made new friends from various corners of the world, been dragged out of the Excel Centre, gained a load of media coverage and kept tar sands well and truly on BP’s agenda. And, best of all, we’ve been labelled ‘winners’ by the Financial Times! What a week!
But the fun continues, as we’ve just arrived in Edinburgh to give RBS a piece of our minds! A big thank you to everyone who has helped make the Tar Sands Tour so successful.
- Tar Sands Tour so far… BP pandemonium
- Now it’s RBS’s turn
Love from the Tar Sands Tour Team,
Emily, Jess, Sue, Melina, Jasmine, Clayton and Felix
——————————————————
1. Tar Sands Tour so far… BP pandemonium
Tuesday: “Calling BP to account”
An excellent start to an insane week, our launch event at Rich Mix saw an unusual alliance form between investors, First Nations representatives, fishermen and women from the Gulf of Mexico, NGOs and activists, all driven by a common anger with BP and passion to take action.
Thursday: BP AGM
BP’s AGM was, shall we say, eventful… There were protests, arrests and a global media feeding-frenzy. It all added up to one hell of a PR own goal for BP. Read the whole story and watch a hilarious video of the action we took that got ten of us kicked out of the AGM.
Friday: Transition Heathrow workshop
After pausing for a few hours to catch our breath, we headed over to visit the lovely folks at Transition Heathrow in the evening, for a tar sands workshop, a screening of the new film ‘Tipping Point’, and an inspiring and fruitful discussion about how we can link up in working towards positive alternatives to dirty oil.
Sunday: The Great BP-Sponsored Sleep-in
Returning to London’s heart and centre of art, we targeted the Tate Modern with Rising Tide’s Great BP-Sponsored Sleep-In. Spot Steve’s teddy in this film of the action, which our film crew (Felix from You and I Films) edited on the train on the way up to Scotland (above).
2. Now it’s RBS’s turn
Today, our friends at Rainforest Action Network have released some red-hot new research: since being bailed out by UK taxpayers in 2008, RBS has raised more than £5.6 billion for companies operating in the tar sands. A whopping £1.2 billion of that total was raised in the last six months, at a time when the UK is experiencing devastating public spending cuts to pay off the deficit caused by the bank bailout. This makes us hopping mad. If only there was a way for us to communicate that to RBS… 
Today: People’s AGM
This evening, we will join with our friends from WDM, Friends of the Earth Scotland, People & Planet, PLATFORM and SEAD to hold a ‘People’s AGM’ where we will pass all the motions that the real AGM will continue to ignore.
Tuesday: RBS AGM:
We will return to RBS’s HQ (verdant site of 2010’s Climate Camp) to have a presence both inside and outside the AGM. Inside, Jasmine Thomas will challenge RBS for its involvement in financing Enbridge, which is trying to build a pipeline right through her community. Outside, activists will engage with shareholders.
Follow us on twitter for the latest updates and photos of our shenanigans: @NoTarSands
BP Overwhelmed by Criticism at AGM
The BP board came under sustained fire from Indigenous people, Gulf Coast residents and major shareholders at its explosive AGM in London yesterday. Shareholders arrived to find a large colourful protest outside the Excel Centre, as fishermen and women affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill joined with Indigenous representatives critical of the company’s recent decision to enter into its first Tar Sands extraction project, to hold an impromptu press conference for the world’s media.
The group of fishermen and women from the US Gulf Coast were then, shockingly, barred from entering by BP, even though they had legitimate proxy votes. The company is clearly too scared to face its critics.
Diane Wilson, a shrimp farmer from the Texas Gulf coast who is already facing 800 days in jail for previous protests against BP, smeared oil-like molasses on her face to protest against being refused entry. She was promptly arrested and held for several hours. The other members of the delegation, Tracy Kuhns, Mike Roberts and Byron Encalade, said they were being treated ‘like criminals’ by BP, when in fact it’s the oil company that caused the spill that is destroying local communities’ lives, livelihoods and health.
Inside the turbulent meeting, a coalition of major US, UK and European shareholders holding 35 million shares explained their decision to vote against the company’s Annual Report, the remuneration package and the re-election of several board members and executives. Julie Tanner, from the Christian Brothers Investment Services, who had flown over from the US to be at the meeting, told the board that given the Deepwater Horizon disaster, there was too little information on safety and operational risk in the Annual Report for them to make informed decisions about their future investment in the company.
BP were then accused of failing to learn from their tragic mistakes by pushing ahead with another risky, expensive and environmentally destructive oil project: the Canadian Tar Sands. Clayton Thomas-Muller from the Indigenous Environmental Network read out to the board a statement from Fort McKay Cree First Nation community members who will be directly affected by BP’s ‘Sunrise’ tar sands extraction project:
“Fort McKay First Nation is situated in the heart of the oilsands. You can go in any direction and within twenty minutes, you will find an oilsands plant. How does the Husky Sunrise project impact us? Well to start with, there are several parcels of land dedicated to the use of trappers from the first nation. Because the animals have disappeared, these traplines are no longer used for trapping.
These traplines have become islands of cultural identity. We use them to escape the industrial activity and as a place to teach our children traditional ways. We are a people whose very cultural identity is linked to the land. The Husky Project has interfered with traplines in the area, reducing access for the local people and taking away the peace of the bush life. High traffic volumes and industrial activity have taken away the peace and quiet and in some cases, taken the land itself.
SAGD projects are touted as ‘clean oil’ but in fact the sheer volumes of water used impacts the surrounding land, drying up the muskeg and reducing animal habitat. We still get the air pollution and with it more sickness.”
He then asked BP how they were managing the rapidly changing legal landscape in Canada as more and more First Nations launch lawsuits agains the tar sands and opposition steadily increases.
Then Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a First Nations representative from the Lubicon Cree in Northern Alberta, challenged BP on its claims that the Sunrise project would be an environmentally responsible alternative to open pit mining because it will utilize ‘in situ’ methods of extraction.
“According to industry data and Environment Canada documents, producing the tar sands by in situ methods actually emits more greenhouse gas per barrel than surface mining does. In situ requires 4 times as much natural gas to produce a barrel of tar sands oil than open pit mining.
There are many ‘in situ’ injection sites on my First Nation’s territory. They contaminate the water, pollute the air, and dramatically disrupt local ecosystems by further fragmenting the boreal forest.
Given the reality of impending climate legislation, why is BP putting your shareholders’ investments at risk and falsely claiming that that In Situ extraction is an environmentally sound alternative to open pit mining?”
After she spoke, ten activists from the UK Tar Sands Network, wearing T-shirts that together spelt out “No Tar Sands” attempted to walk to the front of the hall and stand in front of the board, creating a human protest banner that remained for the rest of the meeting. However, BP’s burly security army jumped on them all and unceremoniously dragged them out.
Watch the film of the ejection here.
The board then listened uncomfortably as US writer and activist Antonia Juhasz described the devastating impact the Deepwater Horizon spill has had on Gulf Coast communities and berated BP for denying the Gulf Coast delegation access. She demanded a response to the failure of the corporation to provide for the safety of its deep water operations and, despite BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg’s attempts to silence her, read a statement from Keith Jones, whose son, Gordon Jones, was killed when the Deepwater Horizon exploded:
“Why was Gordon taken from those who loved him so? This was no act of God. This was not a blowout that was inevitable. No, BP, Transocean and Halliburton could have prevented this blowout and still harvested the riches that lay below. But to complete the well safely would have taken a little more time and a little more money, and you were just too greedy to wait. You had to make more money faster — and if that put those who were on the rig as risk, well, sometimes one has to take a few chances, right? After all, none of you were on that rig. You weren’t rolling the dice with the lives of your sons and daughters, were you?”
Diane Wilson, if she had been allowed into the meeting, had planned to present BP with the ethecon Foundation “Black Planet” award for environmental destruction. But given she had been arrested, Lydia Will from ethecon presented it in her place, demanding that either the Gulf Coast visitors be allowed in, or the Chairman come outside to accept it. He refused both options.
Tar sands and the oil disaster were not the only issues riling shareholders during the meeting, which dragged on for over four hours as investors vented their spleen and large numbers voted against the board.
Afterwards, the press coverage was almost universally damning of the way BP had handled the day, with pictures of an oil-covered Diane beamed across the world and the tar sands issue given prominent coverage.
Here’s a selection of our favourite press stories. Our most favourite comes from the Financial Times, which judges the winners and losers of the day. And the winners were… Tar Sands Campaigners!
Other media:
Press Association:
Independent:
Guardian:
BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13075151
Daily Mail:
BP under fire at AGM for taking unacceptable risks.
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8.4.2011
Interview opportunity with community representatives from Alberta Tar Sands and Gulf of Mexico coast – see below for details.
Residents from opposite ends of North America are travelling to London for a showdown with BP. Representatives of First Nation communities affected by the massive Tar Sands project in northern Canada are working in partnership with fishermen and women whose lives and livelihoods have been destroyed by BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf Coast. They will be joined inside the AGM on Thursday 14 April by UK campaigners and angry shareholders, many of whom are planning on voting against the board.[1]
This unprecedented coalition has come together following a year in which BP has been responsible for the largest marine oil spill in history.[2] Despite this, a few months later BP announced that it was heading into an equally if not more risky “unconventional oil” venture: its first Tar Sands extraction project.
Representatives of affected communities, campaigners and shareholders are therefore joining forces to deliver a simple message to BP at its London AGM next Thursday: stay away from unconventional oil, it’s just too risky. There will be a protest outside and around 30 people will enter the AGM to ask questions, deliver the message “No Tar Sands” in a very visual way, and present BP with the not-so-prestigious “International ethecon Black Planet Award” for environmental destruction. [3]
Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation fisherwoman from the Texas Gulf Coast who was recently arrested for protesting against BP and is facing a jail sentence for up to 800 days, will present the ethecon Black Planet award to BP in person, along with the Chairman of ethecon.[4] Diane will be joined by several other representatives from the Gulf Coast region. [5] She says:
“I am coming to the AGM to call BP to account for its actions in the Gulf – for the oil spill, the lies, the cover-ups, the skimping on safety, the deaths, the non-existent documents, the ‘swinging door’ with regulators. The massive nature of the oil catastrophe means it can’t be covered up, even by BP. It’s everywhere, from 5,000 feet down to miles upon miles across and then spread in the ocean’s currents. I am coming to articulate the anger of thousands of Gulf Coast residents whose lives and livelihoods have been destroyed while the BP board continues to prosper.”
BP’s decision to enter into its first Tar Sands extraction project [6] will also be criticised by a group of Indigenous activists brought over by the Indigenous Environmental Network. Melina Laboucan-Massimo from the Lubicon Cree First Nation will speak from direct experience about what this kind of ‘in situ’ Tar Sands extraction really involves [7]:
“BP is touting its ‘in situ’ extraction project as an environmentally responsible alternative to surface mining, but it is nothing of the sort. There are many ‘in situ’ mines on my First Nation’s territory. They pollute the water and the air, dramatically disrupt local ecosystems, and emit more greenhouse gas per barrel than surface mining. They are operating on our native peoples’ land without consent and it’s important that BP shareholders understand the risks of legal action from First Nations. BP must do the sensible thing and leave tar sands in the ground.”
The community representatives will be joined by UK activists determined to hold this iconic British company to account for its dirty operations across the globe. Jess Worth from the UK Tar Sands Network said:
“Uncertainty in the Middle East and dwindling supplies of conventional oil elsewhere should be a signal to move into more sustainable forms of energy. Instead, BP is responding by charging head first into dangerous, expensive and highly polluting sources of unconventional and marginal oil, such as Tar Sands, deepwater drilling and the Arctic. Pollution from the Tar Sands is equivalent to a Gulf Coast oil spill every month. The Board has clearly lost the plot so we are going to the AGM to set them straight.”
The coalition[8] will gather together in advance of the AGM for a major public meeting, on Tuesday 12 April, 7pm at Rich Mix, 35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA. All journalists are welcome.
To arrange an interview with any of the attendees:
UK media call Jess Worth on +447967758641 or email jess@no-tar-sands.org
North American media call Clayton Thomas-Muller, Indigenous Environmental Network,
+11 613 789 5653
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bp-faces-wave-of-protests-at-agm-2267169.html
1. BP shareholders are angry about a whole range of issues since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. See ‘BP to face tough crowd at meeting’, Guy Chazan, Wall Street Journal, April 6, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703712504576244990369064286.html See also an in-depth analysis of BP’s Annual Report: http://www.cbisonline.com/file/BP%20Annual%20Report%20Assessment%204-4-2011.pdf
2. 11 workers were killed and the ocean and local ecosystems were polluted with 4 to 5 million barrels of oil from BP’s controversial deepwater drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
3. Members of the ethecon Foundation will also be attending to present the award. Together with the positive Blue Planet Award, the negative Black Planet Award is bestowed every year by ethecon – Foundation Ethics & Economics, a German-based international foundation. For more information on ethecon and its work on BP see http://www.ethecon.org/465, http://ethecon/download/Dossier_Black_Planet_Award_2010_English.pdf and http://www.ethecon.org/download/Open_letter_to_BP.pdf
4. Read a longer statement from Diane about the situation in the Gulf Coast and her arrests: http://www.ethecon.org/en/1246
5. Tracy Kuhns, a commercial shrimper from Louisiana and board member of the Association of Family Fishermen, and other fishermen and women are being brought over by the Gulf Coast Fund. Also attending will be Antonia Juhasz, prominent US author, activist and Director of the Energy Program at Global Exchange, who has just published ‘Black Tide: the devastating impact of the Gulf Oil Spill’ which tells the stories of communities and individuals whose lives have been destroyed by BP’s negligence.
6. In December 2010, BP announced it was releasing $2.5 billion to move forward with the Sunrise Project – a partnership with Canada’s Husky Energy. For more information see http://www.no-tar-sands.org/campaigns/british-petroleum-bp/
7. Melina Laboucan-Massimo worked on a report that has just been released by Greenpeace Canada about the dangers of in situ mining: ‘Deep Trouble’, http://www.greenpeace.org/canada//deeptrouble
8. For more information about the members of the coalition, see: Indigenous Environmental Network www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html, UK Tar Sands Network www.no-tar-sands.org, ethecon http://www.ethecon.de/en/793, Rising Tide http://risingtide.org.uk/, Climate Rush http://www.climaterush.co.uk/, Greenpeace UK http://greenpeace.co.uk/, PLATFORM http://platformlondon.org/, Gulf Coast Fund http://gulfcoastfund.org/, Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org, This is Ecocide http://www.thisisecocide.com/, Trees Have Rights Too http://www.treeshaverightstoo.com/
Tar Sands Tour Revealed!
Tuesday 12th April, 7pm
Calling BP to Account – Tar Sands, Deepwater Horizon and beyond…
Rich Mix, 35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA
You are invited to a public meeting in advance of BP’s AGM, that will bring together a diverse coalition of individuals and organisations who are working together to call BP to account for the social and environmental impacts of their activities around the world. Join First Nations from Canada, fishermen and women from the Gulf of Mexico, shareholders, NGOs, lawyers and activists for an evening of information sharing and strategising, on the eve of BP’s Annual General Meeting (14th April).A chance to listen to first-hand accounts of how BP’s decision to go into the Alberta tar sands will affect indigenous communities, the local environment and the global climate. A chance to hear from those whose livelihoods have been destroyed by the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. And a chance to build stronger links between different campaigns and strategies working to restrain the destructive activities of one of the world’s oil giants.
Calling BP to Account – Invitation
Please RSVP to info@no-tar-sands.org
Co-hosted by Greenpeace, PLATFORM, FairPensions and Rising Tide.
Thursday April 14th, 10:30 am
BP AGM
We will be inside and outside BP’s Annual General Meeting with a clear message: ‘don’t go into the Tar Sands.’ If you would like to join us email info@no-tar-sands.org
Friday April 15th, 7pm
Tipping the Balance – Tar Sands, Indigenous Rights and Community Resilience workshop and film screening.
Grow Heathrow, Vineries Close, Sipson, West Drayton, UB7 0JG
Indigenous activists resisting the Alberta Tar Sands will join with Transition Heathrow for a workshop on building community resilience and the UK Premiere of the new documentary: Tipping Point – The Age of the Oil Sands!
What are the Tar Sands? Learn more about the Tar Sands giga-project and the growing resistance. What have they got to do with us in the UK? Learn about how the UK is involved in the tar sands and the vibrant movement in the UK working in solidarity with First Nations community members to shut down the tar sands. Building community resilience: The resistance to extractive destructive mining, response to peak oil and airport expansion all require the re-envisioning how our communities work together both locally and internationally.
8:30 pm UK Premiere Tipping Point: The Age of the Oil Sands!
This documentary takes us to the heart of the struggle of resistance to the world’s largest industrial project. Not to be missed!
Sunday 17th April, 2pm
BP and Culture: Time to Break It Off!
Tate Modern, London
In the week between BP’s AGM on April 14th and the one year anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on April 20th, we are calling for actions and creative interventions to show the true nature of BP’s damaging activities around the world, and to persuade our most prestigious galleries and cultural spaces to liberate themselves from BP’s dirty money. On the anniversary of the Gulf spill, let’s reveal the sticky black stuff behind BP’s shiny green logo, and pile on the pressure to kick BP out of our cultural spaces for good. We will join the Rising Tide, Liberate Tate, Climate Camp London, Climate Rush and Art Not Oil for a day of action against extraction.
Monday April 18th 7-9pm
Clean the Banks! RBS People’s AGM
Edinburgh University Chaplaincy, Edinburgh
Canada’s tar sands are the biggest energy project in the world, creating pollution ponds visible from space, felling the ancient boreal forests and threatening indigenous people’s rights. From this test-bed, the industry is now expanding globally; to Madagascar, Venezuela and Congo. After a massive public bailout RBS continues to provide finance for companies mining tar sands around the world. On the eve of the RBS AGM in Edinburgh this event is a vote against UK tax money financing fossil fuels!
Indigenous people in Canada are fighting ‘the most destructive project on earth’ – the extraction of oil from tar sands and the building of a super-pipeline through their ancestral lands. Hear their stories first hand and learn what we can do to cure RBS of its oil addiction and help stop tar sands spreading to other parts of the world.
FREE, register here.
Organized with WDM, Indigenous Environmental Network, People & Planet Edinburgh, UK Tar Sands Network, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Platform and SEAD.
Tuesday April 19th, 10:30 am
RBS AGM
First Nations community member will be inside RBS’s Annual General Meeting to raise their concerns with banks investment in the destruction of their homelands.
Climate Week, and big BP and RBS events
Dear Greenwash Guerrillas,
We’re very excited to be able to invite you along to two major events as part of our First Nations speaker’s tour in April. If you only come to one tar sands event this year, make it one of these! But first, a word about someone else’s sponsors…
1. Climate Week ‘tar’-getted over RBS sponsorship
2. BP meeting and plans for the AGM
3. RBS and the ‘People’s AGM’
Love and sunshine,
Sue, Jess and Emily
1. Climate Week ‘tar’-getted over RBS sponsorship
On Monday we, and some like-minded friends, turned up at the launch of RBS-sponsored Climate Week. We were there to warn people about the dangerously high levels of greenwash spewing from the plush venue. We flyered every single person who attended the event (apart from a few grumpy folk who wouldn’t take one), talked to many about our concerns with RBS, and did some singing and dancing.
Our protest – and a report released by Platform on the same day that found that, since being bailed out by taxpayers, RBS has financed £8 billion (!) of coal investments – meant that RBS’s dirty portfolio is now firmly back in the public eye.
You can read the whole story here: Climate Week ‘Tar’-Getted by Anti Greenwash Protest
2. BP meeting and plans for the AGM
We would like to invite you to ‘Calling BP to account – Tar Sands, Deepwater Horizon and beyond…’ This event, part of our First Nations’ speaker tour, will take place on 12th April 2011, 7pm, at Rich Mix in London, just before BP’s AGM on the 14th. It will bring together a diverse coalition of individuals and organisations who are working together to call BP to account for the social and environmental impacts of their activities around the world. Join First Nations from Canada, fishermen and women from the Gulf of Mexico, shareholders, NGOs, lawyers and activists for an evening of information sharing and strategising. It should be an amazing event!
More information here. Please please please RSVP to info@no-tar-sands.org so we know how many people are coming. Check out the Facebook event and invite people along!
Also, we need more people to help with our presence outside the BP AGM on the 14th. If you’re able to come to the Excel Centre in London Docklands for a couple of hours around 10ish on Thursday 14th April, please let us know!
3. RBS and the ‘People’s AGM’
After we’ve hit BP’s AGM we’re travelling with our First Nations friends up to Scotland for RBS’s AGM on the 19th April. The evening before (Monday 18th), there will be an alternative ‘People’s AGM’ in Edinburgh with an opportunity to hear from the First Nations representatives directly about the terrible impact of RBS’s investments. The event is being organised by WDM Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland, People & Planet and SEAD.
Email us at info@no-tar-sands.org for more information, or keep an eye on our website and we will post details when they become available, as well as details of other events happening as part of the tour.
