Now eco-mob try to storm stage at oil giant Shell conference as dozens of protesters are hauled out of London’s Excel by security… while shareholders shout ‘get a job’
- Climate activists tried to storm the stage at Shell’s annual shareholders’ meeting
Climate change protesters have tried to storm the stage at oil giant Shell’s annual shareholder meeting in London.
Campaigners from Fossil Free London and Extinction Rebellion’s Money Rebellion subgroup were joined by Dutch activist group Milieudefensie as they disrupted the conference during its opening address.
In a tense moment in the meeting, which had already been delayed for nearly an hour, security stepped in to prevent a protester reaching chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie and other board members on stage.
Dozens of protesters were escorted out by members of the security team at London’s Excel conference centre.
‘Obviously that last incident went a stage further than we experienced in the first part of today,’ Sir Andrew said after protesters had been escorted out. He added that people would be removed if they tried to get onto the stage again.
One woman appeared to faint as she was escorted out by security. Another screamed that the three men carrying her out of the room were hurting her.
A climate activist is removed after disrupting Shell’s annual general meeting in London
Security personnel remove a protester this morning during the Fossil Free London demonstration
Meanwhile, other shareholders grew increasingly frustrated, shouting: ‘Shut up’ and ‘get a job’.
It happened around 50 minutes into Shell’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Tuesday morning. Protesters had consistently got up to chant songs and slogans against the major producer of polluting oil and gas.
‘Shut down Shell,’ protesters repeatedly chanted on Tuesday, interrupting Sir Andrew and other board members as they were speaking to other shareholders in the room.
Security repeatedly escorted protesters out one at the time, however one protester was replaced by another.
In the confusion, Sir Andrew also mistakenly asked security to remove a non-protesting shareholder who had got up to ask for the meeting to push ahead.
‘Are you asking us to start the meeting? I apologise,’ he said, to laughter from the room.
Early in the meeting, a group of protesters sang: ‘Go to hell Shell and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more’ to the tune of the Ray Charles song Hit the Road Jack.
One of the protesters who tried to storm the stage is taken out of the Excel centre in east London during oil giant Shell’s annual general meeting
Security guards escort away a member of the Dutch activist group ‘Milieudefensie’ during a demonstration outside ExCeL, in London, during the multinational oil and gas company Shell Annual General Meeting
Scores of protesters managed to gain access to Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) before being carried or escorted out
An exhausted protester lies on the ground in front of security personnel after being removed from the Excel Centre
A protester clings to his papers and mobile phone as he is lifted outside by security
A woman is carried out legs first after protesting Shell’s annual general shareholders’ meeting in London
Security staff grab a man under his arms while removing him from the annual general shareholders’ meeting
A protester is carried out of the Shell General Shareholders meeting by three security personnel carrying his arms and legs
Money Rebellion, a subgroup of climate activists Extinction Rebellion, tweeted live from the protest
Extinction Rebellion tweeted: ‘Shell are setting our house on fire to fuel their own obscene profits’
Just Stop Oil was not involved directly with today’s protest, but the group tweeted it stood ‘in solidarity’ with the demonstrators
The first protester to get up shouted: ‘Welcome to Shell… complicit in the destruction of people’s homes, livelihoods and lives. Welcome to hell.’
He added: ‘I refuse to accept your hell on earth. Board members, directors and shareholders, I’m here to demand that you shut down Shell.’
He also said: ‘The sea levels are rising, and so are the people.’
The proceedings appeared to finally start after a little over an hour. A protester was escorted out after 72 minutes, after which Sir Andrew was able to start his speech to shareholders.
Climate protesters have gathered outside the Excel centre in east London ahead of oil giant Shell’s annual general meeting.
Groups include Christian Climate Action, a branch of Extinction Rebellion; Catholic protest group Laudato Si’ Movement; and Quakers for Climate Justice.
They have arrived with banners reading: ‘Your greed is killing humanity’ and ‘Stand with the Pope. Stand up to fossil fuels’.
Magda Pittaro, in her 70s and from near Venice with the Laudato Si’ Movement, said: ‘The Pope is really concerned about what is happening to humanity because the poor are dying and the rich are getting richer.
A demonstrator holds up a placard stating ‘On the road to Hell’ outside Shell’s annual general meeting
Protesters sit in front of security personnel during the Fossil Free London demonstration
A protester lays on the ground after being carried out of the Shell General Shareholders meeting
Demonstrators are calling for Shell to be shut down – stating the oil giant is a global pollutant
Security personnel remove a protester who tried to storm the main stage at Shell’s annual general shareholder meeting
‘We are destroying our home and because of that the Catholic Church are really concerned.
‘We are destroying the Earth, we are destroying ourselves and we are destroying God.’
Members of Fossil Free London and Greenpeace have joined protesters outside the Shell AGM venue.
Nuri Syed Corser, 27, an organiser for Fossil Fuel London, told the PA news agency: ‘We are protesting because we need to shut down Shell.
‘We are facing a climate crisis. Shell are one of the companies driving it and are making record profits even as people are facing devastating floods and wildfires.
‘Meanwhile, people in the UK are struggling to pay their energy bills.
‘Shell are sacrificing the wellbeing of millions to protect their obscene profits.
‘If we want a safe, secure and prosperous future, then we have to stop the oil and gas drilling. That means taking on the oil and gas giants like Shell who are determined to stonewall climate action and to string out oil and gas drilling for as long as they possibly can.’
Members of the Dutch activist group ‘Milieudefensie’ wave banners as they protest outside the Excel Centre in London
One banner blared out the words: ‘Stop fossil fuels, stop greenwash, stop Shell’
The protesters gathered outside the entrance of the Excel Centre and sat down while denouncing Shell and other oil firms
Protesters are holding a rally outside the Shell AGM with drums, banners and speeches.
Two demonstrators held up a makeshift archway decorated with flames and the words: ‘Welcome to hell’.
‘YOU SHAREHOLDERS CONTINUE TO VOTE AGAINST CHANGE,’ BLASTS CLIMATE ACTIVIST
Shell’s shareholders have been asked to vote for a new resolution which activists say would make the oil giant’s climate ambitions clearer and stronger.
‘I will not waste any more time, I will not waste anyone’s time today in trying to convince the board,’ said Mark van Baal, the founder of shareholder activist group Follow This, which tabled a resolution at the meeting.
‘Instead I will address our fellow shareholders: Dear shareholders, your board is only determined to cling to hydrocarbons because you, shareholders, allow them to do so. Because you shareholders continue to vote against change.
‘They only cling to fossil fuels because they think that that is what their shareholders want.
‘Your board will choose a different direction if you vote for change.
‘Today when the votes of this AGM are shown, we will show how many shareholders are real stewards of the global economy and how many shareholders enable Shell to continue to cause climate breakdown and jeopardise the longer-term future of your company.’
Following disruption at its annual general meeting, a spokesperson for oil giant Shell said: ‘We respect people’s right to express their point of view and welcome any constructive engagement on our strategy and the energy transition.
‘However, yet again protestors have shown that they are not interested in constructive engagement.
‘We agree that society needs to take action on climate change.
‘Shell has a clear target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 and we believe our climate targets are aligned with the more ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change: to limit the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.’
Rhiannon Osbourne, from the People’s Health Tribunal of Shell and Total, addressed the crowd through a microphone, saying: ‘Shell is a company famous for human and environmental rights abuses across the world.
‘We are protesting today to take action against the Shell annual general meeting in solidarity with communities worldwide who are resisting the violence of their fossil fuel extraction.’
Ms Osbourne said Shell has destroyed the health, livelihoods and ecosystems of communities across Africa.
‘These are now the very same communities which face the most severe consequences of climate change such as flooding and crop failure while Shell continues to make enormous profits and worsen the climate crisis by expanding fossil fuel extraction,’ she said.
A protester has immediately interrupted the Shell AGM, chanting: ‘Shut down Shell.’
The man shouted: ‘Welcome to Shell… complicit in the destruction of people’s homes, livelihoods and lives. Welcome to hell.
He added: ‘I refuse to accept your hell on earth. Board members, directors and shareholders, I’m here to demand that you shut down Shell.’
Other shareholders grumbled for the protester to be quiet while the board let him continue speaking for a few minutes.
He called for others at the annual general meeting to say ‘hell’ when he said ‘Shell’ and asked questions including: ‘Do you like nature?’ and ‘do you like David Attenborough?’ which prompted a wave of laughter.
Chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie eventually asked the protester to sit down and let the meeting to continue to hear others’ views, adding: ‘I think we’ve heard your point.’
A group of protesters at the Shell AGM have stood up and begun singing a parody of Hit The Road Jack, with their lyrics: ‘Go to hell Shell and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more’.
The group also performed a choreographed dance as they held up banners.
They ended by chanting: ‘Shut down Shell, shut down Shell’, before singing ‘We’re on the highway to hell’.
Shell chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie repeatedly called for them to stop and sit down but as the protest continued he asked security to remove them from the meeting, which was greeted by applause from some shareholders.
Protesters have been carried from or escorted out of the Shell annual general meeting in east London by security.
A number were carried out while they continued to chant and sing: ‘Go to hell shell’ and ‘we will we will stop you’.
The oil giant’s chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie apologised to other shareholders for the disruption.
As soon as the singers were cleared from the Shell AGM, another protester stood up and began to shout about communities in the Niger Delta who she claimed had seen their water polluted because of Shell’s operations.
She said: ‘They are not being given any compensation for their loss of water.
‘You’re giving them no future. They cannot pass their farm onto their children. How dare Shell remove their water?’
When the woman was removed by security, another protester stood up, saying: ‘Because of their actions, millions will die. You’re killing the planet. You’re killing millions of children.’
After the second woman was removed, others stood up and spoke in turn as the previous speakers were taken out by security.
Some shareholders could be heard saying: ‘remove her’ or ‘take them out’, as the disruption continued.
Shell chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie confused a shareholder shouting for the meeting to go ahead with a climate protester.
The man shouted for the AGM to proceed but Sir Andrew asked for him to be removed.
He then said: ‘Are you asking us to start the meeting? I apologise.’
This prompted a wave of laughter from those present.
Disruption continues an hour into the Shell AGM.
After a protester tried to storm the stage, one could be heard screaming that the security staff were hurting her as they carried her from the room.
Another woman indicated to the two security staff escorting her out that she had hurt her head before feeling faint.
Other shareholders grew increasingly frustrated, shouting ‘shut up’ and ‘get a job’.
A member of the security staff at the Shell AGM told an elderly protester to ‘be a lady’ as she interrupted the meeting.
The woman could be heard saying: ‘you’re hurting me’ as she was escorted away.
It came an hour and a half into the meeting which has been dominated by disruptions from protesters, with security staff removing them.
The audience has visibly thinned after dozens of people were taken out.
Shell chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie said a shareholder resolution called by activist investor group Follow This ‘would reduce our ability to help the world’.
‘It (the resolution) asks us for absolute Scope 3 targets which we believe would weaken our business,’ he told shareholders at the annual general meeting in London.
‘It would force us to reduce the numbers of customers we serve, and most important who we hope to decarbonise.
‘It would reduce our ability to help the world through our decarbonised products to cut carbon emissions.
‘With strong businesses that can scale up using innovation and collaboration, we feel we’re on the right path to deliver our Powering Progress strategy, while we work to become a net-zero emissions energy company.’
He added: ‘I urge you to support the progress we have made in the last 12 months, and not to vote for the damaging change to our strategy which Follow This have called for.’
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