Vote BP for worst Olympic Sponsor!

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The Greenwash Gold 2012 launch event takes place on 16th April at Amnesty Human Rights Centre from 7pm.

The UK Tar Sands Network has teamed up with London Mining Network and Bhopal Medical appeal to unveil a new website and campaign, Greenwash Gold 2012, focussing on the ‘worst’ Olympic sponsors.

With short films made by award-winning animators, each company is in the running for the prize of worst corporate sponsor of the Olympics. An online public voting competition will then produce the winner, who will awarded the Greenwash Gold Medal during the games in July.

We’re nominating BP, undeservedly named London 2012 ‘Sustainability Partner’, for the Greenwash Gold prize – the other controversial nominees are Dow and Rio Tinto.

Members of communities impacted by the Olympic sponsors from all over the world have come together for the launch event on the 16^th to criticise the companies, including:

• Derrick Evans and Bryan Parras from the Gulf Coast, where communities are still dealing with the environmental devastation of BP’s catastrophic oil spill.
• Clayton Thomas-Muller, an organiser with indigenous communities in Canada fighting BP’s controversial tar sands operations.
• Cherise Udell, a mother from Utah fighting against the life-threatening air pollution levels caused by one of the mines from which Rio Tinto is providing the metal for the Olympic metals.
• Zanaa Jurmed, a community representative from Mongolia where another Rio Tinto mine proving medals metal is accused of exploiting scarce water resources in a desert region.
• Farah Edwards-Khan, a survivor of the Bhopal disaster who witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by Union Carbide’s horrific chemical explosion.

The launch on the 16^th is being chaired by Meredith Alexander, the ex Olympics ‘ethics tsar’ who resigned over controversies surrounding Olympic sponsorship.

For the full press release, and more info on the speakers, see here.

Read more about our campaign against BP’s sponsorship of the Olympics.

A round up of media so far includes:

• Protest groups target Olympics sponsors with new campaign – The Guardian
• An unlikely protest pin-up for the summer’s Olympic Games – The Independent
• BP, Dow and Rio Tinto targeted by Olympic ‘greenwash’ award – The Ecologist
• Olympics Corporate Sponsors Targeted by Organized Protests – Yahoo sport
• Rio Tinto, Dow Chemicals, BP targets in campaign against Olympics sponsors – The Australian

Join us at the launch event at Amnesty International.

Vote BP for Greenwash Gold 2012!

Clayton Thomas-Muller of Canada's Indigenous Environmental Network, Zanaa Jurmed of Mongolia and Derrick Evans of the United States' Gulf Coast Fund in front of the 2012 London Olympic Stadium.