Responding to Shell’s breathtaking profits today (2 Feb),
senior climate justice campaigner for Greenpeace UK Elena
Polisano, said: "Shell is profiteering from climate
destruction and immense human suffering. While Shell counts their
record-breakingbillions, people across the globe count the damage
from the record-breaking droughts, heatwaves and floods this oil
giant is fueling. This is the stark reality of climate injustice,
and we must end it.
"World leaders have just set up a new fund to pay for the loss
and damage caused by the climate crisis. Now they should force
historical mega polluters like Shell to pay into it. It’s time to
make polluters pay. If they had pivoted their business and
transitioned away from fossil fuels sooner, we wouldn't be in
such a deep crisis. It’s time for them to stop drilling and start
paying.”
Greenpeace campaigners are calling on Shell to take
responsibility for its historic role in the climate crisis and
pay for the devastation it causes around the world, but
particularly in Global South countries like the
Philippines.
Virginia Benosa-Llorin, a Greenpeace Southeast Asia
climate justice campaigner currently on board the
Arctic
Sunrise, said: “Where I’m from, San
Mateo, Rizal, in the Philippines, got battered by typhoon Ketsana
in 2009, which killed 464 people and affected more than 900,000
families, including mine.
“My husband and I saved up for years to buy our own home, and
tightened our belts to furnish it, bit by bit. Then came Ketsana.
In one sweep, everything was gone. Watching the water rising
rapidly while we were trapped in our tiny attic was horrible; I
felt like the rain wouldn’t stop. The only escape was through the
roof, which my husband started to break. It was a long,
horrendous day.
“People in the Philippines are suffering greatly despite the
country’s tiny contribution to climate change, and that is an
immense injustice. Carbon Majors like Shell are harming our
lives, livelihoods, health, and property by continuing to drill
for oil. They must stop this destructive business, uphold climate
justice, and pay up for loss and damage.”
