Greenpeace activists dressed as Shell board members partied
around a burning sign reading ‘Your Future’ at a mock party
outside the Shell headquarters as the company announced it made
£22.4 billion ($28.3 billion) profit in 2023.
The action, which saw the smartly dressed execs neck champagne,
fan wads of money in the air and dance a conga line around the
burning sign, challenged the fossil fuel giant for posting
massive profits made during a year of record global temperatures
where extreme weather linked to the climate crisis wreaked havoc
around the world. This included devastating cyclones in
southern Africa and Myanmar and unprecedented wildfires
across North America and Europe.
Maja Darlington, Campaigner at Greenpeace UK,
said: “Fires are raging across Colombia, Britain has
been wracked by floods, 2023 smashed global temperature
records, but Shell is posting yet more obscene profits from
climate-wrecking fossil fuels. While customers struggle with the
cost-of-living crisis, Shell shovels over billions to
shareholders and drills for yet more oil and gas, climate
disasters are multiplying and hitting hardest those who have done
the least to cause the crisis.
“It’s time to end the fossil fuel party. It would take the
average British worker over 640,000 years to earn as much as
Shell did last year. Our government must make oil companies like
Shell stop drilling and start using their immense wealth to pay
for the damage they are causing, before all our futures go up in
flames.”
Shell’s profit announcement comes days after massive wildfires
led to a state of emergency in Colombia, which has been
attributed to climate change. January also saw some of the worst
flooding the UK has witnessed in decades, with the Met Office
warning that climate change will increase the likelihood and
intensity of future floods. Climate change is estimated to cause economic
losses of up to $580 billion a year globally by 2050.
In light of the soaring costs of extreme weather, particularly
for countries in the Global South whose contribution to climate
change is often negligible, Greenpeace is calling for Shell and
other oil giants to be made to pay into the Loss and Damage fund
operationalised at the COP
28 climate talks last month. Shell’s 2023 profit could cover
the cost of Malawi’s
recovery from last March’s Cyclone Freddy 41 times.
Since posting record profits in 2022, Shell CEO Wael Sawan has
shredded the company’s green strategy, abandoningplanned production
cuts, slashing investment and jobs
from Shell’s renewables division, ramping up gas production and
exploring for new oil and
gas. In November, Sawan promised shareholders 2023
payouts of at least $23 billion, over six times as much as they
planned to spend on
renewables last year.
Shell also launched a multimillion dollar lawsuit
against Greenpeace in late 2023 in response to a peaceful protest
by the organisation earlier that year, in which activists
occupied a moving oil platform to protest against the climate
change loss and damage caused by Shell. Shell is demanding around
$1 million in damages, as well as legal costs that could rise
into the millions; one of the biggest legal threats against
Greenpeace in its more than 50-year history.
- ENDS -
Notes for editors:
-
The burning ‘Your Future’ sign featured in the action
utilises an inflammable paste mixture of soluble low toxic
oxyalkylene to create a controlled flame, commonly used in
pyrotechnic displays in cinema and theatre. The controlled
burn of the sign underwent several safety tests before
deployment and all activists involved were provided
appropriate fire safety training before participating in the
action.
-
For safety reasons, no alcohol was consumed during this
action. The ‘champagne’ featured was 0% abv.
