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Shell Must Clean Up Its Act in Nigeria
First published in The Guardian, by Chima Williams (Environmental Rights Action/FoE Nigeria) as told to Ben Amunwa. As Nigerian villagers take Shell to court over huge oil spills, it’s time for the group to take responsibility for polluting practices. A court in The Hague is considering whether Shell can be held liable for alleged pollution in Nigeria, and…
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Why we’re taking the Treasury to Court
This article first appeared in the Guardian Comment is Free on the 20th October 2009. Today we are taking the government to court – Her Majesty’s Treasury to the high courts of justice on the Strand to be precise. The application – made by Platform, World Development Movement and People & Planet – for a judicial review of the Treasury’s lack…
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Nationalised banks must go green
Environmental groups are suing the Treasury in an effort to ensure that RBS invests only in sustainable and ethical projects – This article was originally published at https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/30/rbs-nationalised-banks-green. Since the banking crisis last year, RBS has remained firmly in the public eye as the most controversial bank in the UK. Beyond the populist pillorying of Fred Goodwin’s…
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Wiwa v Shell: The day of reckoning
First published in Reuters. By Ben Amunwa When the news broke of a settlement in the Wiwa v Shell case, a cacophony of responses soon flooded my inbox. Hailed as a victory for human rights by some, others felt disappointed that Shell could throw money in the face of justice. In such a high profile and emotive legal…
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Platform witness statement in RBS court case against the Treasury
Court Ref: CO/5323/2009 In the Administrative Court High Courts of Justice Between: Platform World Development Movement People and Planet Claimants and Commissioners of HM Treasury Defendant First Witness Statement of Kevin Smith Background 1. I, KEVIN SMITH of Platform, 7 Horselydown Lane, London SE1 2LN, make this statement in support of our application for permission…
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Remember Saro-Wiwa? Shell would rather you didn’t
The Guardian, full page advert. On November 10th 1995, the writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged by the Nigerian government. He was executed, alongside eight of his colleagues from the Ogoni people, for campaigning against the environmental devastation of the Niger Delta by Shell and other oil companies. The central abuse which Ken fought…
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Ken Saro-Wiwa: the day of truth?
The Guardian by Kevin Smith Ken Saro-Wiwa: the day of truth? It will send shockwaves through boardrooms if the predictions of the executed campaigner are proved right in a US court. As shareholders gather today in London and The Hague for Shell’s annual general meeting the board is facing difficult questions over the company’s environmental and human…
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Whose Bank? Our Bank! – RBS & the Future
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. Between October 2008 and March 2009, the Treasury pumped £33 billion of public money into ‘bailing out’ the Royal Bank of Scotland, to the point where the bank is now 90% owned by the UK taxpayer. Yet the government continues to insist that…
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RBS driving conflict in the Congo
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. Despite relying on government funds and insurance for survival, RBS is still pumping millions into oil extraction in conflict zones. In March 2009, RBS was part of a consortium of 14 banks that lent $1,890 million to the Irish company Tullow Oil –…
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Delays underline flawed strategy in Canadian Tar Sands
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. The collapse in the oil price in the autumn of 2008, tumbling from $147 to $40 per barrel, saw a corresponding rout in one of the most high-cost oil provinces in the world – the Canadian tar sands. From September to April, week…