Wilderness Defence – Page 70

BP hit by tar sands protests in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge

Saturday April 10th
BP hit by tar sands protests in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge

Oil company targeted by nationwide protests in advance of crucial AGM vote

Protesters demand BP pulls out of “the most destructive project on Earth” – the Canadian tar sands

Saturday April 10th
BP hit by tar sands protests in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge

Oil company targeted by nationwide protests in advance of crucial AGM vote

Protesters demand BP pulls out of “the most destructive project on Earth” – the Canadian tar sands

For photos, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/no-tar-sands and http://www.no-tar-sands.org. Brief reports of the London and Oxford actions can be seen at http://www.demotix.com/news/297925/bp-party-pumps and http://www.demotix.com/news/298075/bp-tar-sands-protest-oxford.

Today, oil giant BP was struck by multiple protests over its controversial plans to extract oil from the Canadian tar sands (1). Hundreds of climate activists in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge (2) targeted the company with simultaneous demonstrations and street parties, including forecourt invasions which closed three BP petrol stations in London and Brighton (3), (4).

Activists hailed the day as a major success, stating that the protests would send a strong message to BP and its investors. Sheila Laughlin of the UK Tar Sands Network said:

“Today, we did exactly what we set out to do – we hit BP’s profits by shutting down their petrol stations, and we hit their brand by informing thousands of people about their destructive tar sands plans. Nearly everyone we spoke to was shocked and outraged by the horrific climate, ecological and human impacts of tar sands extraction. If BP want to completely alienate the UK public, they’re going about it in exactly the right way.”

Meanwhile, a shareholder resolution questioning BP’s role in the tar sands, which is due to be discussed and voted on at their AGM later this week (5), continues to attract interest from shareholders, with a number of major investment funds stating their support for the anti-tar sands resolution in the last few days (6).

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1) Tar sands are a type of oily soil, which requires large amounts of energy, water, and industrial processing to extract and transform into crude oil. Tar sands extraction in Alberta, Canada is already the world’s largest industrial project, requiring the removal of vast areas of ancient forest and consuming enough natural gas per day to heat 3.2 million Canadian homes. The extraction process emits 3 to 5 times as much carbon dioxide as conventional oil drilling, the lakes of toxic waste it produces are so large they are visible from space, and the pollution from the project is harming the health of the Indigenous people who live in its shadow.
See http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/inventory_report/2006_report/som-sum_eng.cfm and http://www.ienearth.org/cits.html

BP was the only major oil company not to be in the tar sands, until in 2007 it purchased a stake in the ‘Sunrise Project’, an extraction project that could produce 200,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day. Earlier this year it announced its potential involvement in two other, similar developments, although a final decision as to whether or not to go ahead with them has yet to be made. Over the last six months, an unprecedented coalition of UK climate activists, NGOs and Indigenous Canadian activists has come together to stop BP’s plans.

2) The April 10th day of action was supported by the UK Tar Sands Network ( http://www.no-tar-sands.org), Rising Tide UK ( http://risingtide.org.uk), the Camp for Climate Action ( http://www.climatecamp.org.uk) and the Indigenous Environmental Network ( http://www.ienearth.org)

3) A brief summary of each of the actions:

London: Around 150 people invaded BP’s Shepherd’s Bush petrol station at around 2pm today. They hung banners off the roof, climbed on the pumps and held a ceilidh in the forecourt. The station remained closed for the rest of the afternoon. There was a heavy police presence, but no arrests.

Oxford: About 25 people from the Thames Valley Climate Action group reconstructed the Canadian tar sands on Oxford’s central shopping parade, including a pipeline and “toxic” tailings pond complete with toy ducks. They used a cycle-powered sound system to entertain and inform thousands of shoppers with music and speeches, while activists dressed as Canada and BP got friendly with each other by the pipeline. Around 5,000 anti-BP leaflets were distributed, and video messages were collected from the public to send to BP’s AGM.

Brighton: Activists successfully invaded and shut down two separate BP petrol stations. Photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdmbrightonandhove

Cambridge: Local activists from the Cambridge Tar Sands Network led an unconventional tour group through the city today. They took in the sights of RBS Branches, a Superdrug Location, and University Facilities funded by BP, all of which have links to the Canadian Tar Sands. The event drew the attention of many members of the public, who took photos, requested more information, or even joined the tour. The event was hailed as a successful public expose of Cambridge’s dark tar-sand-stained underbelly.

4) This day of action fell near the end of a full two weeks of action against BP and the tar sands, dubbed the “BP Fortnight of Shame”. Other actions since April 1st have included:

• 22,000 “rebranded” BP logos were delivered to BP HQ – video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNLzN3zld7o
• A BP petrol station was blockaded in Plymouth, with protesters chaining themselves to petrol pumps. The station was closed for an hour and a half, and there were two arrests: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Greens-protest-closes-petrol-station/article-1992261-detail/article.html
• A demonstration by Youth Against Climate Change in St. Albans, targeting RBS, who are one of BP’s key funders in the tar sands: http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/news/6646160.St_Albans_demo_targets__RBS/
• RBS cash machines were rendered temporarily out of order by Brighton Against Tar Sands (BATS): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/04/448446.html
• A walking tree from Alberta, Canada, turned up at BP HQ (and other key London locations) to complain about tar sands deforestation – video here: http://vimeo.com/10630598
• “Free money” stained with oil was given out at a Natwest (owned by RBS) branch in Norwich: http://felixinnorwich.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/fossil-fools-day-in-norwich-tar-sand-protest-at-natwest/

5) BP’s Annual General Meeting will take place at 11.30am on April 15th 2010 at the Excel Centre, London. Campaigners will be speaking to shareholders outside the meeting, and challenging BP inside the meeting. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/04/bp-investors-row-tar-sands

6) See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/bpdot/7568809/US-and-Australian-funds-join-BP-rebellion-on-oil-sands.html and http://nachhaltiger.de/index.php/2010/04/10/apg-may-vote-against-bp-shell-on-tar-sands/

UK Tar Sands Network
tarsandsinfocus@googlemail.com
http://www.no-tar-sands.org

Struggle stepped up as another whaling ship is sabotaged in Norway

“Norway announced an increased quota of minke whales so we decided to increase our quota of sunken whalers” – AGENDA 21

Another whaling vessel was sabotaged a few days ago, on April 2nd, nearly a year since the last attempted sinking of the Skarbakk, another Norwegian whaling vessel. The attack was claimed by Agenda 21, a group responsible for last years sabotage and a string of other actions against Norway’s whaling industry. Using the name of a 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment, the group is a spin off from the more known Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and promised Norway that if they did not comply with international conservation law, they would sink their whaling ships.

It wasn’t an empty threat, with Captain Paul Watson supervising the sinking of two ships; the Nybraena in 1992 and the Senet in 1994. The anonymous and covert goup Agenda 21 then took over with the scuttling of the Elin-Toril in 1996. Claimed on the website of animal rights magazine Bite Back, the activists explain: “Entry was made through the wheelhouse. The engine room was accessed by removing the locked door from its frame using axe and crowbar. Two sea valves were opened fully submerging the engine and electrical systems.”

Links: United Nations Agenda 21 | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Ocean Defence topic page

Local news media reported that the sabotage was discovered before the ship could sink. An alarm alerted the ship’s owner, Leif Einar Karlsen, who lives nearby. He attempted to slow the water that was coming in through the open valves, but by the time the fire department arrived, the engine room was under several feet of water. Karlsen has pledged to repair the Sofie and begin killing minke whales in May.

It has been one year since the last attempted sinking of a whaling ship in Norway. In April 2009, an attempt was made to sink the whaling ship “Skarbakk” when it was moored at Henningsvaer, Norway. In August 2007, the whaling ship “Willassen Senior” was sunk in the harbor in Svolvaer (the boat was only a stone’s throw away from where the Sofie was docked).

The Sofie is the seventh Norwegian whaling vessel to come under attack for illegal whaling activities since 1992. After the attack on the Sofie, the head of a Norwegian whaling organization complained to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, “It is outrageous that this can be done year after year without anyone being caught.”

The Earth First! Journal is celebrating 30 years in print this Winter!

30 years of no-bull reporting, direct actions, extensive bio-diversity coverage from those within the Earth First! movement who refuse to compromise in defense of Mother Earth!

The EF! Journal Collective is looking for your help in capturing a wicked part of the history of this movement- the UK chapter of direct action, Earth First! organizing, EF! gatherings and some of the best forest defense campaigns on the planet!

If you’re interested in writing an article for the 30 year anniversary please send an e-mail to: collective@earthfirstjournal.org and we can talk more about word length, content and deadlines.

We are also looking for more contributions: direct action photos for 2011 Direct Action Calendar and music for a new EF! music compilation. Send high resolution photos with a caption to the collective e-mail address, as well as your suggestions for songs/songwriters/bands for the new compilation!

Cheers!

For the Wild,
-the EF! Journal Collective”

Earth First! Summer Gathering, 4th – 9th Aug 2010, Derbyshire – location & programme announced/set-up plans & call-out

Ecological Direct Action without Compromise

5 days of workshops, skill sharing and planning action, plus low-impact living without leaders.

Meet people, learn skills, take action.

For latest details, see http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/
Set-up plans & call-out
Location
Programme

Ecological Direct Action without Compromise

5 days of workshops, skill sharing and planning action, plus low-impact living without leaders.

Meet people, learn skills, take action.

For latest details, see http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/
Set-up plans & call-out
Location
Programme
Want to do something to stop our planet from getting trashed?

EF! is about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth. It’s about doing it yourself rather than relying on leaders, governments or industry. Direct action is at the heart of it, whether you’re standing in front of a bulldozer, shutting down an open-cast mine or ripping up a field of GM crops.

We’re a loose network of people, groups and campaigns coming together for ecological direct action.

Join us for 5 days of workshops, networking and planning actions, run without leaders by everyone who comes along. The gathering is also a practical example of low-impact eco-living and non-hierarchical organising.

What’s happening?
Over 80 workshops, discussions, planning, strategy and ‘where next’ sessions:

*Share and learn skills for kick-ass actions on land and water.
Small boat handling and blockading using kayaks / Blockading – tripods, lock-ons/ Fences / Climbing skills / Action reconnaissance / Security for Activists / Strategy and tactics / How to research corporations /

*Network current campaigns against ecological destruction
Open-cast mining / Genetic engineering / Agrofuels / Saving Iceland / Climate actions / Pipeline resistance in Rossport / Anti-nuclear / Airport expansion/ Tar Sands

*Think about eco-centric ethics and alternative ways of organising
Deep green ethics / Anarchist economics / Anarchist history / Radical Politics / Working without leaders/ Consensus decision-making

*Practical skills for ecological restoration and sustainable living.
Introduction to Ecology / Restoration ecology / Flora and Fauna identification / Vegan Cake making / Power from solar and wind / wild food / Squatting / Bike maintenance

As well as international campaigns round-up, networking and planning for future actions.

Cost and practical things
£20-30 according to what you can afford.
The gathering is in Derbyshire, the exact location will be announced the week before. More info on our website.

Find out more and join in!

Email us if you can offer a workshop, want to help out with the gathering or if you would like posters and leaflets to distribute.

We have now a stack of freshly printed posters advertising the gathering. If you’d like to send you some to stick up in your area or to take to events, festivals and the like, please email us. Alternatively you can also download the files and print your own. They are fairly large files! EF! gathering poster (A4)

We are now looking for people to run workshops and discussions at the gathering. Please contact us if you can offer something. Have a look at our programme page to see the kind of thing we’re looking for.

http://www.earthfirst.org.uk, summergathering _ NOSPAM _ @ _ NOSPAM earthfirst.org.uk

Penan step up campaign to defend Heart of Borneo nature reserve

6, April, 2010
Penan natives from Sarawak’s Upper Baram region in the Malaysian part of Borneo have erected two logging road blockades to prevent their last remaining virgin jungle from being logged by the Samling Group, a Malaysian timber giant.
The blockades have been erected at two strategical locations on logging roads near the Penan villages of Long Sabai and Ba Kerameu on the upper reaches of the Akah river. According to community sources, surveyors of the Samling corporation had repeatedly been asked by villagers of Long Sabai to stop working on the Penan’ s native lands but had refused to do so. As a consequence, the villagers erected two blockades that have been in place since 24 March and 31 March respectively.
Aya Luding, a spokesman for the Long Sabai community, said: “We know that we are weaker than the Samling bulldozers. But we are determined to fight for our next generation because we cannot survive without the forest. If we let the company in and do some logging, they will want to take all of our forest.”
Last November, seventeen Penan communities of the Upper Baram region had declared their native lands a self-administered nature reserve. The “Penan Peace Park” covers an area of 163,000 hectares of high conservation value rainforest and traditionally used agricultural land near the international border between Malaysia and Indonesia. ”

Source: http://www.bmf.ch/en/news/?show=200

Huntington Lane Fossil Fools Weekend roundup

As part of Fossil Fools Day West Midlands Climate Action decided to support the Huntington Lane Camp against one of the UKs biggest Fossil Fools; UK Coal, who want to mine 900,000 tonnes of coal at Huntington Lane over a three-year period. The main idea of the Fossil Fools weekend gathering was to get as many people as possible down to the camp over the four days to help with the ongoing construction of the camp. The 230-acre site near the foot of The Wrekin encompasses part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is also home to the protected scheduled New Works Ancient Monument. The Camp was set up three weeks ago in response to UK Coal felling trees which were part of ancient woodland so they can build a haul road to link the two parts of the site together.

A day before Fossil Fools Days saw the camp attacked during the night by three loud bangs, which it is thought came from someone either throwing fireworks or an air bomb into the camp. The camp which included young children were terrified after being woken up during the dead of night. One camper said

“It was terrifying, really terrifying. It was in the dead of night, deathly quiet, and then all of a sudden we heard these three thunderous bangs quickly one after the other.”

As a result of the attack a 24 hour watch has now been established at the camp

The weekend saw a steady stream of people visit the camp which has now grown to include two communal tipis and a third sheltered communal area is under construction which when finished will have raised flooring.

Friday the 2nd April saw two campaigners hang a banner from the famous Iron Bridge World Heritage Site landmark in view of thousands of Bank Holiday visitors.

“We are trying to raise awareness. We are still finding a large amount of people do not know proposals for a coal mine are in existence, let alone it being so close to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”

Overall the mood at the camp is positive but we still need as many people at the camp as possible and anything you can donate would be appreciated. We still need Food, Water, Tarp, Ropes, Straw/Sawdust/Woodchips to soak up the mud a little and Walkie Talkies

http://wmclimateaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/fossil-fools-weekend-roundup/

Black Wood protest camp disappears over night to fight another mine, another day

2.4.2010
The Black Wood Solidarity Camp packed up the night before last and left the site of UK Coal’s new mine at Blair Farm, in Fife. The camp occupied the site for a week and a half to show UK Coal and other mine operators that no new mine or coal infrastructure is safe and out of reach of protesters.

The intention of the camp from the beginning was to hold a short-term occupation to bring attention to the issue, make links with local communities and cost UK Coal money. The occupation was a show of solidarity with local residents who opposed the mine, and with the currently occupied Huntington Lane open cast site in Shropshire.

One of the primary aims of the camp was to cost UK Coal money and make it more difficult for the company to cause such destruction in other places. Dunfermline Sheriff Court would inevitably have granted the summary eviction of the occupiers today and, coupled with the fact that bailiffs from the National Eviction Team recently visited site, the camp had undoubtedly already hit UK Coal profits.

The camp was set up on Sunday 21st March in protest against the devastating effects of open cast coal mining. Impacts on nearby communities will include noise and dust pollution, increased traffic on the roads through HGV movements, the loss of landscape, local ecology and biodiversity, and loss of access to recreation areas, not to mention the increased rates of respiratory diseases and cancer from exposure to coal dust. The mining of this coal will also release over 2 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere from combustion alone at near-by Longannet power station, directly contradicting the Scottish government’s targets to reduce emissions.

As environmentalists, the camp occupants made sure to leave the site as they found it, undamaged by their activities. This was unlike UK Coal – with felling operations complete, huge areas of birch and oak forest – designated ancient woodland – have been lost as well as the wildlife within it, which included nesting birds, bats and red squirrels. On top of this, the camp is conducting an ongoing investigation into allegations, supported by local witnesses, that fire damage to Great Crested Newt areas was carried out on behalf of UK Coal to facilitate the newts forced migration as a condition of planning consent.

Fiona Cooper from the camp said “We will be opposing more open cast coal sites in Scotland, as well as supporting other communities fighting the unsustainable and damaging growth of the coal industry in the UK, such as the Huntington Lane protest site in Shropshire.”

The camp would like to thank the people of Oakley and surrounding areas for their support throughout the occupation, and remind UK Coal of its obligations to restore the site when it is finished with it.

Black Wood Solidarity Camp
coalactionscotland@riseup.net
http://blackwood.noflag.org.uk/

Outdoor Skillshare//18-21 June, Scotland

**Please forward on to your networks, if you would like some posters/flyers to display, please get in touch**

///Outdoor Skillshare/// 18-21 June

An exciting weekend of workshops and skillsharing in rural Scotland.

Come and learn:
climbing and rope access, building tree houses, tunnelling, cooking for the masses, knot-tying, fire-lighting, wild foods and more!

**Please forward on to your networks, if you would like some posters/flyers to display, please get in touch**

///Outdoor Skillshare/// 18-21 June

An exciting weekend of workshops and skillsharing in rural Scotland.

Come and learn:
climbing and rope access, building tree houses, tunnelling, cooking for the masses, knot-tying, fire-lighting, wild foods and more!

At Mainshill Solidarity Camp we occupied land facing destruction. We lived outside, grew as a community and took continuous targeted action.
We want to focus on the skills needed to occupy and defend land with a weekend long event bringing people together to learn and share the skills for living outdoors as a community, building defences, resisting evictions and thinking about strategies for action.

These are transferable skills that can be taken away and used in a wide range of campaigns and actions.

This skillshare will be a safe, inclusive and participatory environment for learning new practical skills and is open to people of all abilities and experiences. If you have any queries or special requirements, please let us know – we will do our best to accommodate everyone’s needs.

We will be asking for donations toward food and other costs from those that can afford it.

If you want to find out more, or if you have skills you want to share then please contact us at: outdoorskillshare@riseup.net

//Workshop Timetable//

Friday
8:00-10:00 Breakfast
11:00 Workshop Facilitator Drop-in (2 hours, 11-13:00)
12:00 Confidence Building and Mutual Support (1 hour, 12-13:00)
13:00- 14:00 Lunch
14:00 Dealing with Problem Behaviour and Encouraging Participation (1
hour, 14-15:00)
16:00-16:30 Tea Break
16:30 Trip to Mainshill (2 hours, 16:30-18:30)
18:30- 19:00 Welcome Session
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Pub Quiz
22:00 Music. Jam. Fire.
00:00 Bedtime

Saturday
8:00-10:00 Breakfast
9:30-10:00 Welcome Session
10:00 Cooking for the Masses (3 hours, 10-13:00)
Fire Building and Lighting (1 hour, 10-11:00)
Tree climbing, general rope access skills (2 hours, 10-12:00)
Tripods (2 hours, 10- 12:00)
12:00Tool Use and Care (1 hour, 12-13:00)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00 Facilitation for Consensus (2 hours,14-16:00)
Overcoming Oppression (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Tunnelling (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Vegan Baking (2 hours, 14-16:00)
16:00 Tea Break
16:30 Legal Observing (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Self Defence (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Site Electrics (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Tactics and Strategy for Defence (1 hour, 16:30-17:30)
18:00 Knots (1 hour, 18-19:00)
Protecting Your Habitat inc. toilets (1 hour, 18-19:00)
Radios (1 hour, 18-19:00)
19:00-20:00 Dinner
20:00 Films Talks, Craft Session
22:00 Open Mic
00:00 Bedtime

Sunday
8:00-10:00 Breakfast
9:30-10:00 Site Meet-up
10:00 First Aid (3 hours, 10-13:00)
Herb and Plant Identification (1 hour, 10-11:00)
Map reading and Navigation for beginners (2 hours, 10-12:00)
Treehouse Building (2 hours, 10-12:00)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00 Blockading for Beginners (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Fences – getting through, over etc. (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Tree climbing- advanced, Arbouring etc. (2 hours, 14-16:00)
15:00 Comms (1 hour, 15-16:00)
16:00 Tea Break
16:30 Dragon Dynamics Empowerment Skillshare (2 hours 16:30-18:30) Field
Plumbing (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Recces (2 hours 16:30-18:30)
Tree climbing,general rope access skills (2 hours 16:30-18:30)
19:00-20:00 Dinner
20:00 Music – Performances
00:00 DJ
03:00 Bedtime

Kids’ Workshops

Saturday
10:00 Tree Identification (2 hours, 10-12:00)
14:00 Tree Climbing for Kids (aged 10+) (2 hours, 14-16:00)

Sunday
14:00 Consensus for Kids (2 hours, 14-16:00)
16:30 Clang, Bang, ShakeyShake, Crash! Making Instruments Out of Trash!
(2 hours, 16:30-18:30)

Lots more info at http://outdoorskillshare.noflag.org.uk

Eviction bosses show up at Black Wood as court hearing delayed

29.3.2010
Hours after the Black Wood Solidarity Camp successfully pushed back its eviction hearing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court this afternoon, members of the National Eviction Team including Martin Leyshon, Head of Resources, visited the site to document its defences and presumably to begin the process of evicting the camp.

The Black Wood Solidarity Camp is just over a week old so the appearance of the National Eviction Team at such short notice and before the eviction order for the site has even been granted shows that UK Coal want rid of the camp as soon as possible. Further still, the court papers are full of references to the recently evicted Mainshill Solidarity Camp, with police advising UK Coal that the longer the camp exists, the harder and more costly it will be to remove it.

And of course, they’re right, but numbers matter too. Please come and join the camp for as long as you can – even if just for a day, it will be greatly appreciated. The vibe on the camp is good, with defence-building and barricading happening all over the place with plenty of opportunities for people to get involved and lend a hand. See here for details of how to get the the camp.

The hearing for the eviction order of the Black Wood Solidarity Camp will take place on Thursday 1st April at Dunfermline Sheriff Court at 14:00. Come down and show your support for the occupation if you can.

Finally, UK Coal have claimed that the occupiers of Black Wood have caused fire damage to the site, disrupted a Great Crested Newt habitat and closed access to a footpath. The Solidarity Camp finds it ironic that a company about to provide fuel to a coal-fired power station, fanning the flames of catastrophic climate change, causing the forced migration of a protected Newt species and trashing their habitat on site, and permanently removing a right of way for the duration of the mine should accuse the camp of these things. The camp suggests that hypocrisy and deceit will get UK Coal nowhere.

Black Wood Solidarity Camp
coalactionscotland@riseup.net
http://blackwood.noflag.org.uk/

Shell apologises

Shell Apologises for Human Rights Violations in Niger Delta

The Hague, 27 March 2010

Today, Royal Dutch Shell is holding back the tears no more. Shell apologises to all inhabitants of Nigeria’s Niger Delta for the many years of human rights violations, for which Shell takes full responsibility.

Shell Apologises for Human Rights Violations in Niger Delta

The Hague, 27 March 2010

Confronted with massive evidence of human rights violations that can only be attributed to its operations in the Niger Delta, Royal Dutch Shell is extremely proud to be the first international petrochemical company to publicly say:

We are sorry.

Since Shell first discovered oil in the Niger Delta in 1956, the company has ravished the land and polluted the environment. “We thought these people didn’t know what was good for them,” explains Bradford Houppe, Vice-President of Shell’s newly established Ethical Affairs Committee. “We never knew that we were bringing them impoverishment, conflict, abuse and deprivation. Now we know.” Shell acknowledges that it is responsible for large-scale oil spills, waste dumping and gas flaring. Each year, hundreds of oil spills occur, many of which are caused by corrosion of oil pipes and poor maintenance of infrastructure. “Our failure to deal with these spills swiftly and the lack of effective clean-up greatly exacerbate their human rights and environmental impact,” says Houppe. “And that is wrong. It’s just really wrong.”

More than 60 per cent of the people in the Niger Delta depend on the natural environment for their livelihood. But due to the oil pollution, many of them use polluted water to drink and to cook and wash with, and eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins. Oil spills and waste dumping have also seriously damaged agricultural land.

The destruction of livelihoods and the lack of redress have led people to steal oil and vandalise oil infrastructure in an attempt to gain compensation or clean-up contracts. Armed groups engage in large-scale theft of oil and the ransoming of oil workers. Government reprisals frequently involve excessive force and the collective punishment of communities, thus deepening general anger and resentment.

Between 2005 and 2008, the Nigerian government received around $36 billion in taxes and royalties from Shell. “They have never, not in the slightest, held us to account for all the wrong we did,” says Houppe. “So without taking back any of our apologies, by all means: blame them too!”

A comprehensive Plan of Action, featuring general apologies, detailed apologies, apologies in Braille and apologies in rhyme that Shell employees will hang on the walls in their offices, will be presented at Shell’s Annual General Meeting on 18 May 2010 in The Hague.

http://shellapologises.com/