Just Transition in Glasgow – now is the time for ‘For’ and ‘Against’
Nov 19, 2021
“We need a massive programme of retrofitting homes”. Francis Stuart of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is outlining his understanding of the social project that needs to take place, the transformation of pretty much the entirety of the housing stock of Scotland – and indeed the UK. Stuart sits behind a long table...
The Open Wound – keeping eyes on the constant injustice of oil production in Nigeria
Nov 9, 2021
26th Anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 Ogoni comrades Authored by James Marriott of Platform drawing from the collective experience of so many others in Platform and the multiple organisations we’ve collaborated with. On the morning of 10th November 1995 in a Port Harcourt goal, Nigeria were murdered: Ken...
How to Capture the Future and Store Capital – the plans for CCS in Liverpool Bay
Nov 5, 2021
You can see the future from Formby Beach. You don’t even need to climb up on one of steep sand dunes to catch a glimpse of it. It is out there yellow and white lights blinking in the grey dusk away to the North West. It has supplanted the red dots of the turbines on...
What the Gas Price hike means – the Tales of Two Cities
Oct 20, 2021
Hot on the heels of the Petrol Panic comes the Gas Price Panic and the Electricity Price Panic – my head spins as I try to take in each of these fossil fuel driven convulsions. It is worth the effort to unpick this ball of yarn and lay out the tale it reveals. It is...
Petrol Panic II – taking on the barriers to climate action
Oct 12, 2021
Week two of the Petrol Panic – Monday 4th October. It looks like the pumps are working as normal in the BP petrol station at 232 Priory Road in Anfield, Liverpool, fed by road tankers filled at the gantries of Stanlow Refinery, 12 miles to south on the banks of the Mersey. But the Petrol...
Profiting from the Panic – how to use a squeeze in the oil flow to financial advantage
Oct 4, 2021
Petrol Panic grips the nation. A second week of fuel shortages on the forecourts threatens to hobble the economy, or at least erode support for the Tories in their heartlands and overshadow the Conservative Party Conference. Will queues at the petrol pumps in Manchester crowd the prime minister’s show? The Shell stations in Bolton were...
‘Much More than a Road’ – battling another motorway in Crude Britannia
Sep 23, 2021
Another consultation document to go through. Another online form. Another swamp of documents. They are drowning us in data. This is the Community Impacts Consultation for the Lower Thames Crossing issued by the UK government agency, National Highways (formerly Highways England). Again and again we go over the same ground. (We have blogged on these...
Training costs: a barrier to transition for offshore workers
Jun 22, 2021
In September 2020, Platform released a report, OFFSHORE: Oil and gas workers’ views on industry conditions and the energy transition, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth Scotland and Greenpeace UK. The report was the culmination of the first large-scale survey of offshore oil and gas workers in the UK, surveying 1,383 workers (approximately 5%...
We are recruiting for new trustees at Platform!
Jun 16, 2021
Platform is a research and advocacy organisation with a focus on energy system change. Our current campaigns focus on the social, economic and environmental impacts of the global oil industry. The organisation is led by the staff in a distributed leadership model where the direction and strategy are decided collectively. We self-manage issues through a...
Petition for a Just Transition in the North Sea
Jun 4, 2021
Platform’s Just Transition campaign seeks a well-managed phase out of oil and gas production in the North Sea. This includes preventing future oil and gas licensing rounds, halting fossil fuel subsidies, and most importantly, ensuring that Just Transition measures are implemented during the phase out (i.e. large-scale job creation, re-training and re-skilling, safeguarding worker rights...
Taking Control: Building oil and gas workers’ power in the energy transition
Feb 8, 2021
Do you work in the offshore oil and gas industry? Have you worked in the industry in the past? Join our workshops to determine what a just energy transition looks like and learn how we can fight for our demands. First workshop: Saturday 13 March 2021 10:00am – 1:00pm over Zoom. Our report, OFFSHORE: Oil...
25 Years On – Healing Separation, Mobilising Desire
Nov 5, 2020
Next month marks 25 years since the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 9. Across Nigeria and the wider environmental justice movement, the legacy and story of the lives lost in the defense of the land and communities could not be more poignant. Now more than ever we are witnessing how police brutality and...
