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Putting Oil before People – Cameron in Kazakhstan
So David Cameron’s been cozying up to Kazakhstan’s autocratic president Nursultan Nazarbayev, talking up ‘a new relationship’ between Britain and Kazakhstan and claiming that trade between the two countries could total £85bn. Cameron did briefly mention a letter he received from Human Right’s Watch which detailed President Nazarbayev’s appalling record on democracy and human rights…
3 Jul 2013 admin -
Signing of TAP agreement delayed as Aliyev tries to silence EU critics
This morning’s planned announcement that the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline has been chosen as the final part of the mega gas pipeline that would run from the Caspian Sea to Italy1 has been overshadowed by controversy over when the agreement will be signed. The official announcement and a statement by the EU Commission are both expected today…
28 Jun 2013 admin -
From the Niger Delta to the City of London: taking the fight to Shell
There are moments sometimes when you are suddenly struck by the realisation that this is what life is about. I am not talking about being in the green fields at Glastonbury after a rather potent chai tea. I am talking about the feeling of a tiny, temporary re-balancing of the injustice of the universe –…
5 Jun 2013 admin -
Groups oppose European Bank’s plan to fund oil drilling in Egypt
Cairo/ Brussels May 27, 2013 On Wednesday 29 May, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) will vote on whether to make a $40 million loan to Kuwait Energy to drill and extract oil in Egypt. Egyptian and international organisations are pushing the board of the public multilateral bank to reject the loan –…
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Shell CEO to be presented with ‘retirement present’ by Niger Delta activist at shareholder meeting
What: Photo opportunity – At the Shell Shareholder presentation, in London an oil activist from Niger Delta and watchdog group to present retiring Shell CEO with “polluted water” champagne bottle as a present When: 9.30am Thursday 23 May 2013 Where: The Mermaid Conference & Events Centre, Puddle Dock, Blackfriars, London, EC4V 3DB On Thursday morning…
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Even oil dictators need a social license to operate – Aliyev’s cultural spending spree
Whether it’s BP’s sponsorship of the Tate galleries, Shell’s funding for the Southbank Centre or Tullow Oil’s controversial deals with Sunderland football club oil company sponsorship of the arts is a familiar phenomenon. But what about oil dictators? Do they also need a social license to operate? What kinds of institutions would they throw money…
16 May 2013 admin -
“Gaz de schiste – c’est fasciste!” – Don’t Frack Algeria
On Monday Algerian activists in London protested against fracking plans, as Minister of Energy and Mines Youcef Yousfi was presenting to the Algeria British Business Council. The chants of “Gaz de schiste! C’est fasciste!” and “No Fracking Way!” could be heard clearly inside the hall, provoking giggling. As the Minister paused, the refrain of “Youcef…
17 Apr 2013 admin -
Tullow Oil’s Sunderland AFC sponsorship ends amid controversy
Last year we raised some concerns about a new sponsorship deal between Tullow Oil and Sunderland football club, aka Sunderland AFC. Only it wasn’t actually Tullow that was doing the sponsoring, it was a strange body called Invest In Africa, that was all about promoting Africa (homogenous and undifferentiated continent that it is) as a…
11 Apr 2013 admin -
Rewriting the future: Achebe, literature, and activism
Nigerian write Chinua Achebe died last Thursday at the age of 83. He is a key figure in world literature and a writer who along with others utterly changed the way cultures pre- and post-imperialism – and pre-missionary – imagined representing themselves. In so doing, he bolstered the challenge to western and white supremacist…
25 Mar 2013 jane
