Two Olympians use pink boat to blockade main entrance to Fawley Oil refinery as other activists swarm into site and scale two 50 foot oil silos
Protestors demand Government listens to the people and bans all fossil fuels investments NOW
Eco-campaigners have broken into ExxonMobil’s Fawley Oil terminal in Hampshire today (28 October), just three days before the COP26 Climate Summit, to demand that the Government listens to the people and stops all fossil fuel investments NOW.
The protestors, who include British Olympians Laura Baldwin and Etienne Stott, are also calling for Exxon Mobil to stop its major expansion plans at Fawley Oil Refinery. The refinery, owned by ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Petroleum Company, is the UK’s largest oil refinery, supplying 20% of all UK fossil fuels.
Around 15 Extinction Rebellion activists gained entry to the site early this morning, under cover of darkness, cutting the electrified perimeter fences surrounding the terminal and spreading across the site in small groups to lock on to structures across the site.
Seven of the protestors have scaled two 50 foot oil silos and unfurled two banners which proclaim: “Climate Emergency” and “No Future in Fossil Fuels”.
Another group of activists, including British Olympians Laura Baldwin and Etienne Stott, are chained to a pink boat, The Beverly Geronimo, on a trailer which is blockading the main entrance to the site.
Laura Baldwin, Olympic sailor, coach and environmental protector, from Portland, said: “I am a deeply protective mother, moved to take direct action in a desperate bid to force this suicidal system to change in time to limit the climate crisis worsening and slipping past the point of no return. Watching the news this summer was horrifying and heartbreaking, witnessing catastrophic climate impacts killing people on every continent of the globe. That we, as tax payers are actually funding, through subsidies, the toxic and deadly oil industry is beyond absurd and it must stop now.”
Etienne Stott, 42, Olympic Gold Medallist at London 2012,who lives in Nottingham, added: “I think it’s totally wrong that oil companies continue to put their profits ahead of everyone’s right to a future on a living planet. We need our government to rein in these rogue companies as a matter of urgency and show to the world ahead of COP26 that the U.K. is prepared to take a genuine leadership position.”
“Watching Joe Lycett’s documentary on Channel 4 this week made me realise just how dishonest these fossil fuel giants are being and motivated me to get onboard with this action today to continue to highlight the corruption and apply pressure where it’s needed.”
The protestors are demanding the government listens to the people. They point to mounting evidence the public want more radical action than the Government is offering to tackle climate breakdown.
This month the Climate Consensus, a survey of over 22,000 people across the UK, commissioned by Demos, revealed that between 77% and 94% of respondents back a carbon tax on polluting industries, higher levies on flying and grants for heat pumps to help tackle the climate crisis. A speed limit of 60mph on motorways and a campaign to reduce meat eating by 10% were also among the most popular measures.
A YouGov survey for Global Witness shows that more than two thirds (67%) of the British public across all sectors of the population, want to see the UK as world leader on climate change, with 65% wanting the Government to shift the subsidies it provides to domestic oil and gas companies to support the expansion of renewable energy and improve the energy efficiency of people’s homes. Only 7% opposed these measures.
Yet still the government turns a deaf ear to the electorate, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget speech this week almost devoid of any reference to the climate crisis and, just three days before the UK hosts the crucial Cop26 climate summit, he announces the halving of taxes on domestic flights, which are already far cheaper and more polluting than trains, a £21bn in funding for roads, a paltry £1.5bn for public transport and the continued freeze on fossil fuel duty.
The Fawley activists are demanding the Government listen to the nation and raise the bar as the host of the Cop26 Climate Summit next week by announcing an immediate end to all fossil fuel investment, a move which would strengthen its hand in demanding radical action from world leaders.
Scientific evidence shows we are approaching the point of no return. Earlier this year UN secretary general, António Guterres warned that the recent IPCC report on the climate crisis is nothing less than “Code Red” for humanity. He added: “We are at the verge of the abyss.”
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has also warned that exploitation and development of new oil and gas fields and the building of coal-fired power stations must stop this year if the world is to stay within safe limits of global heating and meet the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
The campaigners also condemn ExxonMobil’s massive expansion of its diesel production facilities at Fawley, despite the banning of all combustion powered vehicle sales by 2030, and the laying of a new, larger bore pipeline to supply Heathrow and other airports with ever greater quantities of fossil fuel, despite the unequivocal science that states we need to drastically reduce emissions.
Irrefutable evidence shows that ExxonMobil has known about the devastating effects of fossil fuel production on the environment for over 40 years, concluding in 1979that it "will cause dramatic environmental effects” in the coming decades and saying “the potential problem is great and urgent”.
However, instead of acting responsibly on that knowledge, they've spent tens of millions funding climate denial and misinformation and obstructing a transition to cleaner energy sources. A senior ExxonMobil lobbyist recently admitted that the company was aggressively fighting against some of the science.
Activist Hannah Hunt, 22, a student and sailor from Brighton, warned: "We are speeding towards an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The government must ban any new fossil fuel investment. Anything less and we fall off the cliff and condemn the next generation to the greatest level of suffering in human history and the greatest injustice. For the health of our planet, for the health of our children: science cannot be disputed, so now is the time to act."
Sarah Webb, aged 50, a special educational needs tutor from Oxfordshire, added: “I am here to stand up for what is right. Our Earth, our home is on fire, and all we hear from our Government is 'blah, blah, blah' - empty promises and failed targets. If you want a liveable future, I encourage you to stand with us."
Jonathan Kennedy, 42, mechanical engineer, Sussex, said he had acted in fear for his children’s future. He said: “We have two young children. It breaks my heart to think how our collective failure to act on the climate crisis is going to impact their generation. The government’s action is not enough. I can't stand by. I have to do what I can.”
Only protective decarbonisation of our economies can even begin to set limits on the scale of death, destruction and mass extinction that climate change brings.
At the very least there must be no new investment in fossil fuel infrastructure. This is Extinction Rebellion’s IMMEDIATE DEMAND to government: Stop all fossil fuel investment NOW.
Notes for Editors:
COP26
It’s three days before COP26. Governments around the world have a duty of care to protect the lives and well-being of their citizens. They are failing.
COP1 was set-up by the UN to deal with climate change in 1995. Since then, there have been 25 meetings. After nearly 40 years of warnings and 30 years of international climate negotiations, carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by over 50% since 1990. Meanwhile fossil fuels are subsidised at $11m a minute. Now we are at COP26 and we need action.
The climate crisis
Emissions are still rising. In fact they are rising so much that it’s predicted that instead of 1.5°C we are on a path to 3.2°C increase this century. The world is going to become a terrifying, dangerous place if we reach 3.2°C of heating.
We are already facing climate and ecological breakdown. One million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. People, principally those in the Global South who have done the least to create the damage are suffering and dying today and at COP26 their voices must be heard.
Sweeping changes are needed to the nature of our economy, the form of democracy, and the way we share our planet. The UK Climate Assembly showed that citizens will step up to make the tough decisions necessary to move towards a greener, fairer world if they are enabled to do so. People want change.
But, before we begin to repair the damage, we need to stop making the crisis worse. There’s no time left to lose, aiming at net zero by 2050 will mean a death sentence for millions. Denial and greenwashing must cease.
Fawley Refinery
Fawley refinery, the largest in the United Kingdom, produces 270,000 barrels of crude oil a day and supplies 20% of all UK fossil fuels. It has a multi-million pound expansion programme planned.
The refinery is owned by Esso Petroleum Company Limited, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation who are investing a billion dollars to expand diesel production despite that all combustion powered vehicle sales will be banned in 2030.
A further development is the Southampton to Heathrow Pipeline (SLP) project replacing and expanding 90km of the underground aviation fuel pipeline. Flying cannot easily be decarbonised and the industry has no credible route to zero emissions. In fact, the UK plans to grow air traffic 60% by 2050 a completely unsustainable prospect – they fly, we die.
ExxonMobil knew
ExxonMobil knew about the overwhelming scientific consensus on man-made climate change from at least the mid-1960s, and responded by sponsoring climate science denial. This has enabled them to continue fossil fuel extraction despite knowing it causes mounting harm to people and planet. Their denial and greenwashing has continued ever since. And, as we act today, with love and humility, in defence of our beautiful planet, Exxon’s CEO is called to give testimony to the US Senate.
Listen to the People
Pink Boat: The Beverly Geronimo
The pink boat used to blockade the main gate at Fawley oil refinery is named after Beverly Geronimo, an activist murdered in the Phillipines. Beverly, 27, was an active member of the Tabing Guangan Farmers Association (TAGUAFA) and the Parents-Teachers’ Community Association (PTCA) of the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI) Academy.
Since 2009, Beverly had experienced harassment, intimidation and coercion from soldiers present in their community. She was staunchly opposed large scale mining companies such as OZ Metals and Agusan Petroleum.
ends
Farnborough airport barricaded by activists locked to a stretch limousine, fuel barrels and a giant steel tripod in call for polluter elite to cut their emissions
Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked all major entrances to Farnborough Airport in Hampshire today (2nd October) to protest against the shockingly high levels of CO2 that private flights emit per passenger.
As world leaders gather for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow this month, protestors are calling on the world's super-rich elite of celebrities, oligarchs and business leaders to ditch private flights. These private flyers, just 1% of the world’s population, cause half of aviation’s global emissions. Extinction Rebellion is also demanding the government stops private flights now.
The 30,000 private flights to and from Farnborough Airport each year carry an average of just 2.3 passengers, with each passenger responsible for the emission of nine times as much carbon as an economy flight to the US and 20 times that to Spain. The airport has permission to increase flight movements to 50,000 a year.
In protest at this wanton level of pollution by the super-rich, Extinction Rebellion has today blockaded three key airport entrances with activists locked on top of a 3 metre high steel tripod at one gateway and to fuel barrels at a second. The third entrance is barricaded by a stretch limousine, with the driver locked on to the steering wheel and a protestor dressed as a media mogul glued to the roof. Other demonstrators from across the South East, including a former airline pilot, are also protesting at the gates of the airport with banners exclaiming Private Flights Cost The Earth; Stop Private Flights Now; Private Jets = Public Deaths.
The airport’s recent move to offer “Sustainable” Aviation Fuels (SAF) to aircraft is condemned as utter greenwash, since the sheer amount of SAF needed to fuel the aviation industry would result in the mass destruction of forests and biodiversity.
Protestor Sarah Hart, 40, a sales manager and resident of Farnborough, said:
“I am taking this action against the airport to highlight the damage private flying is doing to the environment and the lack of accountability by the users who avoid public scrutiny. I am demanding the government act now and ban private flights.”
Activist Marion Malcher, 66, a project manager from Woking, said:
“It's madness that a tiny number of very rich people, just 1%, are creating half of aviation’s carbon emissions, whilst the poorest people suffer and die because of climate breakdown. They're inflicting massive damage to all life on our beautiful planet. Luxury private flights must stop, they are literally costing us the earth.”
Protestor Todd Smith, 32, a former airline pilot from Reading, criticised Farnborough Airport’s move to offer SAF as a so-called alternative fuel.
He said: “The term ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuel’ was coined by the aviation and fossil fuel industry to deceive the public and greenwash the utterly destructive nature of biofuels.
“Biofuels result in land grabs, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, rising food prices and land-use emissions which can be worse than the fossil fuel they are replacing. The most optimistic forecasts say there are only sufficient global resources to support approximately 5.5% of projected EU jet fuel demand in 2030.“The alternative fuel that SAF producer Neste plans to supply to Farnborough would be used much more efficiently in ships and trucks and given there’s only small quantities available, should be prioritized to decarbonise more essential activities than private jet use.”
Mike Grant, 61, a former serviceman, from Rosewell near Edinburgh said "Private jets are an environmental disaster. Those who use private jets have the wealth and power to know and do so much better. They boast about being leaders of society and drivers of the economy. They are also drivers of the climate crisis. We call upon them to show real leadership, to take responsibility for their actions, to tell the truth about the impact of private jets on the environment and to do the right thing….park them."
One of the key recommendations made to the government by the Climate Assembly UK in its report The Path to Net Zero is to ban polluting private jets and helicopters, moving to electric when possible. They also called for frequent fliers and those that fly further to be made to pay more. The government has shown no sign of acting on either demand.
Research by think tank Transport and Environment, revealed that CO2 emissions from private jets in Europe rose by nearly a third between 2005 and 2019 – outstripping scheduled flights. It found that the biggest source of pollution was from jets departing from the UK and France – accounting for 36% of all private flight emissions in Europe.
Climate charity Possible recently described the private jet as representing the most extreme end of the climate injustice that characterises air travel. It is calling for the banning of fossil-fuelled private jets at UK airports within the next five years.
The protest comes days before the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre, based at the airport, hosts the "Arms Fair", the DPRTE Defence Procurement and Supply Chain event on 5th October.
Notes for Editors:
Live stream taking place from around 7.00am. Available to view afterwards.
https://youtu.be/2V3s1FtTLZM
https://fb.watch/8nIvk5XFT3/
Images available from 7.30 am
https://show.pics.io/xr-global-media-breaking-news-content-600ed2733c68d80019a19bc7/search?tagId=6154b9e3443af20012467ef3
Social Media hashtags
#PrivateFlightsCostTheEarth
#StopPrivateFlightsNow
Key facts about private flights:
Countering Farnborough Airport’s greenwash on SAF
Farnborough Airport Website:
https://www.farnboroughairport.com/
Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnborough_Airport
Rushmore Borough Council:
https://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/farnboroughairport
Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee:
http://www.facc.org.uk/
DPRTE
https://www.dprte.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DPRTE21-Event-PlannerV2.pdf
Extinction Rebellion’s demands are:
Public interest not served by prosecution, CPS rules
It is not in the public interest to prosecute two Extinction Rebellion activists who locked themselves together to block the entrance of the Horse Hill oil site near Gatwick in December 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has ruled.
The CPS decision to drop the case comes just days before the activists were due to appear in court this week (Thursday 14 January 2021).
Gillian Fletcher, 58, of Clifton Road, Wokingham and Steve Lowes (known as Woody), 49, of Goring Road, Staines-upon-Thames, were both charged with wilful obstruction of a highway after locking their arms together in a steel pipe and lying in front of the gates of the oil site for 8 hours on 10 December 2019. The site operator UKOG has planning permission to drill new wells there and produce oil for 20 years.
Gillian Fletcher, 58, of Clifton Road, Wokingham and Steve Lowes (known as Woody), 49, of Goring Road, Staines-upon-Thames
They were both due to appear at Staines Magistrates Court on Thursday this week. However on Friday last week the CPS informed both activists that the case had been dropped.
The CPS stated: “The decision to discontinue these charges has been taken because a prosecution is not needed in the public interest.”
“We carried out this action over a year ago to bring attention to UKOG's unnecessary and destructive plans to extract oil and gas across the south east.
They intend to industrialise our precious countryside and ruin our environment in order to extract fossil fuels which we don't need and which will contribute to our own extermination. We and others will not stand by silent and allow them to do this.”
Gillian Fletcher, Wokingham
The Government has been using the current health situation to subtly erode rights of protest in a way which will be difficult to reverse when the situation changes.
Steve Lowes of Staines-upon-Thames
They have been insisting on prosecuting peaceful protestors, forcing them to travel against their own guidelines to reach courts for hearings. “The dropping of our charges as 'not being needed in the public interest' is perhaps an indication not only that some prosecutors are aware of who the real criminals are in this scenario, but that they are starting to exert their independence from political interference."”
Activists are hopeful that this latest decision by the CPS and its decision in November last year to drop charges against another two Extinction Rebellion campaigners, who locked themselves together outside the site and two who breached the site’s security to occupy the site, indicates an increasing reluctance to uphold prosecutions against peaceful protests highlighting the Climate Emergency.
Horse Hill oil well has been the focus of protests since the site was earmarked for oil exploration. In the past year there have been a number of slow walks and in October two activists occupied the site’s drilling rig for twelve hours.
In 2018 UKOG was granted an interim injunction against protests at the site. The company is in the process of attempting to make the injunction permanent.
A trial beginning early next year will decide whether the interim injunction should be made final. This will be the first of the injunctions against protests at UK onshore oil and gas sites to go to trial.
In a similar injunction granted to Ineos. the appeal court judges dismissed the section outlawing protests on the public highway, but UKOG has indicated that it wants to continue to outlaw protests on the highway.
UKOG has said it will seek to include in the final injunction slow walking, standing in front of vehicles, climbing onto vehicles and actions that blocked the public highway. It also said it would seek to include trespass to land and obstructing the entrance to sites. In the meantime the interim injunction continues to be challenged in court by the Weald Action Group, the order comes before a High Court judge next month.
Campaigners converge on UKOG Horse Hill site to call for end to drilling
Extinction Rebellion and other eco activists slowly walked in front of four tankers this morning (3 August) en route to UKOG’s Horse Hill production site.
The slow walk saw around 20 Covid-19 masked activists gather near the junction of Horse Hill and Reigate Road and proceed at a snail’s pace in front of the tanker to protest the continued expansion of fossil fuel development in the midst of the climate emergency.
This is the second time in two months that protesters have used slow walking to highlight continued oil extraction at the Horse Hill site, which is located two miles from Horley town centre and close to Gatwick airport. Stewards were on hand to minimise delays to other drivers.
The protest comes just weeks after a local campaigner won permission for a judicial review of Surrey County Council’s decision in September last year to grant planning permission to produce oil at the site for 20 years – a move that could add an estimated 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
I feel I have to take action now. The climate is breaking down as we speak. Unless we urgently reduce our dependence on fossil fuels there is going to be global human suffering on a scale we have never seen before. New exploitation of oil, like this, taking place on our doorstep at Horse Hill, is sealing us into a terrifying future. The UK government and Surrey County Council have failed to act to prevent new oil development, despite acknowledging the emergency.
Kate James, 45, a protester from Brighton
This protest is not fun. It is scary, but I feel I have a moral duty to do what I can for the sake of my children and future generations. This is a small peaceful protest and we are taking what measures we can to keep everyone around us safe by maintaining social distancing as far as possible and wearing face masks.
We are at a point in time where we are on a precipice of climate break-down and the human race must take the right steps to prevent this.
Brian Sandersen, aged 37, a Sussex-based scientist
This can only be avoided if we invest in renewable energy which is becoming cheaper and easier to harness.
The fact that the government is not doing all it can to prevent mass extinction, and continues to invest in the use of fossil fuels, is criminal.
For this reason I have come to protest by slow walking the oil industry lorries entering the site.
We can no longer put our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening. The Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, has warned that we need to plan for a 4 degree Celsius rise in temperature by the end of the century.
Jack Bowden, environmentalist from Redhill
We are currently just over one degree and we are experiencing floods and wild fires. A 4 degree rise will be catastrophic. We have a chance after Covid-19 to change path and the urgency of the pandemic shows what is possible if there is a will.
Climate change is here for the foreseeable future. How we act now will decide what future we leave our children, future generations and al the other amazing species that share this incredible planet Earth with us.
Live streaming at the site on https://www.facebook.com/XRSouthEastUK
Due to a civil injunction at the site protestors names are aliases. The civil injunction prohibits certain protests at UKOG sites. Its scope is currently being challenged in the courts.
Farnborough airport barricaded by activists locked to a stretch limousine, fuel barrels and a giant steel tripod in call for polluter elite to cut their emissions Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked all major entrances to Farnborough Airport in Hampshire today (2nd October) to protest against the shockingly high levels of CO2 that private flights emit per […]
Two Olympians use pink boat to blockade main entrance to Fawley Oil refinery as other activists swarm into site and scale two 50 foot oil silos Protestors demand Government listens to the people and bans all fossil fuels investments NOW Eco-campaigners have broken into ExxonMobil’s Fawley Oil terminal in Hampshire today (28 October), just three days […]
CPS drops case against eco-activists who blockaded UKOG Horse Hill oil site Public interest not served by prosecution, CPS rules It is not in the public interest to prosecute two Extinction Rebellion activists who locked themselves together to block the entrance of the Horse Hill oil site near Gatwick in December 2019, the Crown Prosecution […]
Eco activists “slow walk” four tankers to protest future fossil fuel production Campaigners converge on UKOG Horse Hill site to call for end to drilling Extinction Rebellion and other eco activists slowly walked in front of four tankers this morning (3 August) en route to UKOG’s Horse Hill production site. The slow walk saw around […]
