Big Oil

Big Oil refers to BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total, the world’s six largest and richest publicly-traded oil and natural gas producers.

Existing pledges fall far short of what’s needed, putting the world on course for drastic food and water shortages, deadly weather disasters, and catastrophic ecosystem collapse. This is why the planet is set to warm by more than 2.7 degrees celsius by the end of the century. This is far above what world leaders have said is the acceptable upper limit of global warming. But even a lower increase would mean millions of people losing their homes to rising seas, vast sections of permafrost lost and extinction for scores of animal species.

For ideas on what you can do go to our Act on Big Oil page.

The Tufton 3 Campaign for Climate Truth

A Writers Rebel Initiative

Which is the bigger crime – spray painting 55 Tufton Street or using dark money to spread lies about a crisis that threatens to end human civilisation?

The Tufton 3 – Writers Rebel’s co-founder Jessica Townsend, Extinction Rebellion co-founder Clare Farrell, and Professor Rupert Read – will go on trial for criminal damage to 55 Tufton Street on 28th October 2021. 

Their protest took place after a magnificent series of readings organised by Writers Rebel in which Caroline Lucas, George Monbiot, Zadie Smith and many wonderful writers spoke truth to power. The three then sprayed Lies Lies Lies on the pillars of the Georgian townhouse and poured fake blood down its steps. The whole event was designed to draw attention to the work of climate deniers such as the Global Warming Policy Foundation inside the building. ‘Our ultimate aim,’ said Professor Rupert Read ‘is to withdraw their social licence.’

The three believe in the months leading up to November’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the GWPF has been injected with new funds to step up its insidious propaganda work. And the three believe they detect a change in tactics.

The Global Warming Policy Foundation was started by the notorious denier of the climate science, Nigel Lawson, who was later banned from speaking on the subject by the BBC. At the beginning, the GWPF  focused on the kind of falsehood on which the internet thrives: that global warming is no threat to polar bears, or that trees actually flourish on increased carbon emissions.

But the ‘think tank’s new approach is termed by some ‘delay-ism’. They make false narratives and sow confusion. In particular one recent tactic is to by draw attention to the difficulty of the adaptation task ahead, particularly to the cost of it. They are not beneath implied threats:  for instance, they warn that if a Zero Carbon approach is adopted, it will generate a populist, Trump-style backlash. 

With groups like the GWPF wielding such dangerous power over the media and the political classes, never has Extinction Rebellion’s first demand to Tell The Truth been more important. At Writers Rebel, we believe it is incumbent on writers to tell that truth in fresh and compelling ways. For storytellers, the climate issue has always been a challenge. The danger is so grave that it’s easier for those who can’t bear to face that truth to label us as fantasists and doomers, rather than pay heed to the science.  Science says we still have a very narrow margin in which to act to stave off the worst effects. So we need to tell our stories urgently, to help others with the fears they might engender, and foster the good will and human connections that might make our joint future both possible and liveable. 

HOW TO HELP

1. Donate to the Tufton 3 Crowd funder here.
2. Save the date: 28th October 2021 (on which there will be an event to support the case)
3. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

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