BP Chairman: "fracking is a great opportunity" but don't ask us about the risks

BP Chairman: “fracking is a great opportunity” but don’t ask us about the risks

Today I attended BP’s annual shareholder meeting alongside Fernando Cabrera from OPSur (Argentina). Fernando came to challenge BP’s board on the dangers from their fracking operations. BP’s Argentinian arm Pan American Energy is using fracking frighteningly close to Patagonia’s freshwater supplies and fruit orchards (see our report “BP’s Fracking Secrets” for more on this). Here’s...
Shell AGM - Securing the comforts of the present generation at the expense of the next

Shell AGM – Securing the comforts of the present generation at the expense of the next

Last week I headed home from the Netherlands, crossing the North Sea from the delta of the Rhine to the delta of the Thames, after having attended the Shell AGM in Den Haag with friends and allies from Greenpeace, ShareAction, Observatorio Petrolero Sur, Milieudefensie and Global Witness. This year’s Shell AGM was a quieter affair...
Shell AGM: "With patience and saliva the ants devour the elephant"

Shell AGM: “With patience and saliva the ants devour the elephant”

Just returning from the Annual General Meeting of Shell at Den Haag in the Netherlands – tired but exhilarated by the experience. As with the AGM in 2012 there was a powerful array of civil society groups from all over the world taking the time and devoting the energy to travel to the grey, rain...

Out in the Cold – new report on Shell’s plans in the Arctic

Shell’s Annual General Meeting tomorrow is unlikely to go calmly. The company’s problems range from anger over excessive executive pay to spills in the Niger delta. At this time, Platform, Greenpeace and FairPensions are putting to scrutiny offshore Arctic exploration as a key direction in the company’s strategy. The new report ‘Out in the Cold...
Get The Shell Out! Friday 18 May @ 7.30pm

Get The Shell Out! Friday 18 May @ 7.30pm

UK Tar Sands Network, Indigenous Environmental Network, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), Platform, Rising Tide UK, FairPensions, Greenpeace, Shell to Sea and Art Not Oil present: Get The Shell Out! 18th May 2012, Toynbee Hall, 7.30pm Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street, Greater London E1 6LS You are warmly invited to a public meeting in advance of...

RBS AGM – the aftermath and the follow up

On the 28th of April, RBS held its Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh. Amidst the various motions relating to executive bonuses and a report back on the rocky road to recovery, two people raised concerns over the impact that RBS’ investments were having on indigenous communities in very different parts of the world. Eriel Tchekwie...

FT folds to Shell pressure before AGM

The Financial Times pulled an Amnesty advert challenging Shell’s pollution in the Niger Delta today. The full page ad was due to appear the morning of Shell’s AGM, to contrast the company’s $9.8 billion profit with its role in causing Nigerian communities to drink polluted water, eat contaminated fish, farm on spoiled land, and breathe in air...

BP’s ‘absentee landlords’ under pressure to stop tar sands

Yesterday, people from all over the country streamed into the Excel Conference Centre in the London Docklands to take part in the financial theatre that is the BP Annual General Meeting. One of the people who was protesting outside remarked that there was a “surprisingly low shareholder turnout of hedge fund managers in suits, and...

Complicit then: complicit now?

The same week that Shell are on trial for complicity in brutal crackdowns against the Ogoni people, including the murder of non-violent activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian military has launched a large offensive against the people of the Niger Delta, in an attempt to crush armed insurgent groups. All the while, Shell, the largest oil...

Shell under fire as trial approaches

London- One week ahead of Shell’s trial for human rights abuses, including the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa, activists turned up the heat on Shell at their AGM. Spectacular fire juggling brought Shell’s gas flaring in the Niger Delta to the attention of shareholders as they entered the Barbican where the UK AGM was held. The...

Activists put Shell under fire as trial approaches

London & Den Haag With one week to go until Shell stand trial in New York for human rights abuses including the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa, activists will turn up the heat on Shell at their AGM next Tuesday 19th May. Spectacular fire-breathing performance and protests in London will bring Shell’s gas flaring in the...