Rig Rebellion 2.0: Extinction Rebellion Scotland continue to block entrances to Shell HQ in Aberdeen

January 16, 2020

  • Around 50 activists have gathered at the three entrances, some of the protestors are locked together to prevent removal 
  • A large purple boat has been parked blocking on the roads into the building preventing cars from entering 
  • Extinction Rebellion Scotland intend to stay till the end of the working day

At 6.30am this morning, activists from Extinction Rebellion Scotland blocked three entrances to Shell HQ in Aberdeen. Some of the activists are locked together. We also blocked a road with our boat which is named Amal Gous in honour of the activist and tea seller murdered during the Sudan popular uprising in June 2019. [1] 

Our boat, emblazoned with the words “The Future You Fear Is Already Here”, is a nod to the climate catastrophes already unfolding across the globe, and is parked blocking one of the entry roads into Shell HQ. 

Gil, one of the protestors locked on, said; 

“If we don’t start holding corporations like Shell to account for their practices then they will continue extracting fossil fuels regardless of the damage it has, and will, cause. How can we expect unregulated business to provide a just transition for workers when their only aim is to make profits? It would be naive to expect a multinational company like Shell to provide a decent, fair transition for employees when they inevitably have to scale down operations – unless they are made to. It is essential that we hold these companies to account and make them promise a fair transition away from fossil fuels, be it in jobs or reparations, for all their staff in offices, procurement lines and on off-shore rigs.”

This action is part of the Rig Rebellion 2.0, series of actions targeting the fossil fuel industry. We want Shell and the rest of the fossil fuel industry to tell the truth about their role in the climate crisis, to halt their billion dollar misinformation and lobbying campaign to undermine belief in climate science and action on climate change.

Extinction Rebellion Scotland have three demands for the Scottish Government; 

1. Tell the truth about the fossil fuel industry’s role in driving the climate crisis.

2. Act now to stop supporting the industry, wrap it up and begin a just transition away from it. 

3. Trust ourselves in a legally binding citizens assembly; we want workers, communities and the people of Scotland to make the decisions on how this is done.

In response to Shell’s statement earlier today, an Extinction Rebellion Scotland spokesperson said; 

“It is misleading and insulting to the general public for Shell to claim that what is needed is further discussion about solutions and alternatives. The technology for a low-carbon economy is available and affordable. This is not a technical problem, but a political one. Our politics, economy and society are being held ransom and forced into dependence by a fossil fuel industry committed to blocking progress to protect their profit margins. Corporations like Shell have consistently used their wealth and influence to suppress the truth about the threat of the climate crisis and to slow down the adoption of alternatives to fossil fuels, knowing that those alternatives will put them out of business.”

In response to Oil & Gas UK’s statement, Extinction Rebellion Scotland said;

 “It is unsurprising but disappointing that a fossil fuel lobbying body like Oil & Gas UK, who have the ear of the government, continue to call the consensus around climate science a conspiracy. It is precisely fossil fuel interest groups like Oil & Gas UK, who have been peddling conspiracy theories as part of a concentrated campaign to sow doubt and halt progress.”

[1] The Sudanese Revolution is a pro-democracy popular uprising in Sudan, a country which has endured over thirty years of brutal military rule and repression following an intense civil war directly linked to climate change and fossil fuel exploitation. Reduced rainfall and desertification have caused widespread crop failures and social instability, fuelling a conflict originally sparked by the struggle to control South Sudan’s oil fields. 

About Extinction Rebellion Scotland

Extinction Rebellion Scotland is a non-violent direct-action movement formed to take urgent action in the face of climate emergency and ecological catastrophe, as part of the global justice movement.

Our demands, issued as a Declaration of Rebellion to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government on 24 November 2018, are as follows:

  1. That the Scottish government tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, acknowledge and reverse any policies that help drive the climate crisis, and commit to enabling a rapid and just transition to a sustainable and fair society.
  2. That the Scottish government enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, including by replacing a system based on accelerating consumption with one based on ensuring the well-being of all.
  3. The creation of a Scottish Climate Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose and a society that cares for all.

Read more about Extinction Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth