FSO Safer: Big Oil polluters should pay, not people

Governments have finally pledged enough money for the United Nations to cover the US$75 million needed to transfer the toxic cargo of 1.14 million barrels of oil from the abandoned FSO Safer tanker, a ticking time bomb threatening the people of Yemen and the fragile Red Sea.

It is a relief that the UN can start the operations to avert this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe, but let’s not forget that the government’s money is people’s money, and the reality is that once again we, the people, are paying for the oil industry’s mess. 

ExxonMobil, OMV, Occidental, TotalEnergies, and others have announced record profits in the first two quarters of this year. Yet none of them has provided funds to enact the UN salvage plan. These oil companies have the moral responsibility to fund the operation to protect the people of Yemen and the Red Sea that they put at risk by exploiting Yemen’s oil resources for many years, utilizing the FSO Safer. They must also be held accountable for any potential humanitarian and environmental impacts from the FSO Safer. 

Oil companies are making huge profits on the backs of vulnerable communities – as oil spills and accidents in Thailand, Peru, Ecuador, and Nigeria in recent months have reminded us.

We want international oil companies to foot the bill. The financial weight of oil pollution should be carried by polluters, not people. Sign the petition and tell oil companies that polluters must pay, not people.