The government should use its shareholder position in the newly recapitalised banks to push for proactive change from within – This article was first published at https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/21/banking-crisis. In early November, representatives from 20 different organisations from around the world gathered in Spain as part of the BankTrack network to lay out a response to the banking…
Before they benefit from any kind of bail-out, banks should commit to reducing their investment in fossil fuels. – This article was originally published at https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/08/fossilfuels.banks. On the same day as it became apparent that RBS would need billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to save it from collapse, the government’s climate change watchdog warned that we should…
This report details the range of existing and emerging risks that BP and Shell face from their expansion of production in the Canadian Tar Sands. We believe these risks are significant for BP and Shell shareholders and that investors should question the companies more deeply on their tar sands strategies, and call for greater transparency…
Sept/Oct 2008 – SABLE literary magazine – Ben Amunwa – The Living Memorial: an update from Remember Saro-Wiwa – feature article on Remember Saro-Wiwa Text & pdf to follow.
By James Marriott – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. How was it that the marshes of Hoo St Werburgh – so good for grazing cattle and sheep, so rich in birdlife – were turned into a site for Kingsnorth Power Station – with its chimneys and access roads,…
The Russia-Georgia conflict and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline by Manana Kochladze – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. A new Cold War. Punishment of Georgia’s pro-western tendencies. Reincarnation of a strong Russia. A return to a multipolar world. What all these narratives miss is that the Great Game is old,…
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. British troops dispatched to Georgia to protect the flow of Caspian crude oil from Baku from the encroaching Russian threat. This was 1919, when Britain took control of the Black Sea ports of Batumi and Poti, the outlets through which Azeri…
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. At 11pm on 5 August, a major explosion ruptured the BTC pipeline near Yurtbashi village in Turkey’s eastern Erzincan province. The blast sent flames shooting up to 160 feet in the air. Nearby residents told PLATFORM that they heard explosions, before a plume…
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. In 2002 the future Oil Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, enthusiastically described the occupation as both a “sort of life insurance for continuing the social and political changes” and “a great incentive for attracting the international oil companies”. On one hand, the…
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. BP, Shell & the Canadian tar sands Under the pristine boreal forest in Northern Alberta lie the Canadian tar sands, a vast carbon time bomb that if ignited will dramatically increase the chance of passing a climate change tipping point. While a rational…