Pressemelding - 12 november, 2013
UPDATED. Oslo 2013 – Today 10 polar bears and 20 Greenpeace activists symbolically cancelled the Arctic Oil and Gas Conference in Oslo due to climate risk. They interrupted the conference with hand banners and photos of the Arctic 30 detained in Russia. They send a strong signal to the CEOs at the conference that’s it’s time to stop putting sensitive areas at risk to explore for oil the world cannot afford to burn.
UPDATE: 30 Greenpeace activists and polar bears today succeeded in stopping the international Arctic Oil and Gas Conference in Oslo, Norway. For 30 minutes they informed the oil industry executives and answered their questions regarding the climate risk of Arctic drilling, before they were peacefully escorted out by police.
The 30 polar bears and activists entered the conference room and unfurled hand banners with the messages «Cancelled: climate risk» and held photos of The Arctic 30 detained in Russia.
- We cancel this conference to give the oil industry an important message. And we act in solidarity with our 30 friends and colleagues who have been detained for 55 days in Russia for a peaceful protest against Gazprom and the Arctic oil race. They are climate heroes, and we are proud to pursue their mission, said Truls Gulowsen, Programme Manager for Greenpeace in Norway.
While world governments gather in Warzaw to try and solve the climate crisis, greedy oil executives meet in Oslo to find ways to extract more oil from the Arctic. As the world cannot afford to burn the Arctic oil, there is no need for such a conference.
- We suggest the oil industry executives use this free time to read up on the climate science. Latest science comes today from IEA, telling us that more than 2/3 of global proven fossils need to stay under ground if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. When they plan for Arctic drilling, companies such as Shell and Gazprom are betting against our common climate goals for a sustainable future, Gulowsen continued.
This is not the first time Greenpeace has crashed the oil industry's party. Earlier this year, Greenpeace met the participants at the «Arctic Summit» in Oslo, and a couple of weeks ago, activists interrupted a talk by Russian oil giant Gazprom at the Technical University in Denmark.
- This is part of a long fight to save the climate and the Arctic. As long as the oil industry continues its greedy hunt for Arctic oil that the planet cannot afford to burn, we will use any opportunity we get to keep telling them the truth, Gulowsen said.
We demand that the Arctic should be protected and that the 30 climate defenders are released.
Contact:
Erlend Tellnes, Arctic Campaigner in Greenpeace Norway, phone +47 993 73 407
Åshild Lappegård Lahn, press officer, phone +47 977 10 530