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Tullow Oil’s foul play in Ghana
Sunderland FC’s controversial sponsorship deal with a Tullow Oil front group was featured in today’s Independent: There are growing concerns surrounding the suitability of Sunderland's new sponsor, Invest in Africa, amid claims from the oil watchdog Platform that the initiative's founding partner, Tullow Oil, is responsible for damaging business practices on the continent. Tullow…
28 Jun 2012 admin -
Blowing the whistle on Sunderland AFC’s oil sponsorship deal
At Platform we’ve been very focused on looking at how oil companies use cultural institutions to plaster over their controversial operations, but just yesterday a UK-based oil company moved into the sports sector. The Guardian reported that Premier League Sunderland AFC had secured “pioneering African sponsorship” with Invest in Africa. The article makes Invest In…
26 Jun 2012 admin -
RBS & ECGD offer billions in public money to expand Caspian fossil fuel infrastructure
While the Tory government forces through unpopular cutbacks to the NHS, education and pensions, British public institutions plan to invest hundreds of millions – if not billions – of pounds into new fossil fuel infrastructure on the Caspian. Both the British Export Credit Agency (the ECGD – recently rebranded "UK Export Finance") and the Royal…
25 Jun 2012 admin -
The Egyptian Revolution & Environmental Justice – Platform on Resonance FM Thurs 8pm
As both candidates claim to have won Egypt's Presidential elections, the military launches a "quiet coup", imposes martial law and awards itself legislative powers. Meanwhile, popular and grassroots struggles for social and environmental justice continue in Egypt. Tonight on Resonance FM, tune in to hear Platform's monthly radio show featuring Mel Evans & Mika Minio-Paluello…
21 Jun 2012 admin -
Mark Rylance, BP & the Olympics
It was heartening to hear Mark Rylance on the Today Programme this morning talking about his involvement in the Olympics opening ceremony and his discomfort about BP (and McDonalds) sponsorship. The award-winning actor, theatre director and playwright said that he’d been asked to take part, and the interviewer suggested he could have said no, to…
20 Jun 2012 admin -
Breaking: Oil giant Shell may face fresh wave of oil spill claims
In this summary of the historic first hearing in Bodo v Shell, Platform reveals that a growing wave of oil spill claims could be on the horizon, exposing the oil giant to major financial liabilities. Shell showed little sign of remorse at its first appearance before a UK court after causing “devastating” oil spills in…
18 Jun 2012 admin -
Controversial Cairo PPP refinery receives $3.7 billion from World Bank, EIB, EFG Hermes
A refinery expansion inside urban Cairo is receiving hundreds of dollars in "development" lending, despite a popular campaign against construction. The Mostorod Refinery Project – part-owned by private equity firm Citadel Capital – is situated in Northern Cairo, between Shobra El-Kheima and Mostorod. Opposition to the public-private partnership has focused on forced evictions, pollution and…
18 Jun 2012 admin -
Shell in the dock over major oil spills in Nigeria
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Shell will appear in the High Court in London today to be held accountable for its oil spills in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Over 11,000 Nigerians from Bodo town in the Ogoni region of the Delta are suing Shell over the environmental damage caused by two devastating oil spills in…
18 Jun 2012 admin -
Opportunity – 3 day workshop with Platform and Live Art Development Agency
Art-Oil-Numbers-Bodies-Love: Live Art Workshop on the Problems of the Oil Economy and Oil Sponsorship of the Arts with Nicole Garneau August 9-12, 2012 Application deadline: July 9 Art-Oil-Numbers-Bodies-Love is a 3-day intensive workshop in which participants will be encouraged to try different strategies for producing small solo and collaborative live art gestures or mini-performances on the subject of…
18 Jun 2012 admin
