Global news

Russian fossil fuel imports blocked amid global anti-war effort

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Activists block a rail track leading to the Russian-owned oil refinery of PCK-Raffinerie GmbH in eastern Germany.

Global Justice Now joined hundreds of organisations around the world in March calling for governments to urgently stop buying Russian oil and gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Dock workers and environmentalists blocked tankers carrying Russian imports into the UK, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and the US. The G7 committed to phasing out Russian oil in May, but so far European countries have failed to agree a ban.

The UK is less dependent on Russian imports than other European countries like Germany, but this has not stopped the fossil fuel industry opportunistically arguing for more domestic North Sea oil and gas extraction in response to the crisis. In fact, renewable energy remains the cheapest and quickest way to replace fossil fuel imports and bring down bills.

Meanwhile, more than 13,000 people were arrested in the first two weeks after the invasion following anti-war protests across Russia. Ongoing protests have remained small owing to heavy repression.

Investors desert East African Crude Oil Pipeline

More than 20 financial institutions have said no to investing in a controversial $3.5 billion oil pipeline, which French oil giant Total and the China National Offshore Oil Company plan to build connecting oil fields in Uganda with the Tanzanian coast.

The pipeline would transport oil generating over 34 million tons of carbon emissions each year, threatens to displace thousands of families and farmers and poses water risks including to the Lake Victoria basin. In May, Deutsche Bank became the latest bank to turn down the project, following an international campaign backed by an alliance of more than 200 African and international organisations.

“As a continent, we should know better before submitting to corporate colonialism and extractivism and fiercely refuse to succumb to the charm of the dying fossil fuel industry,” said Ugandan climate activists Hilda Nakabuye and Mulindwa Moses. Activists blockaded the AGM of Total in Paris in May, leading to the meeting being cancelled.

Global food sovereignty movement to converge The food sovereignty movement, founded over 25 years ago, is coming together for a new global process to renew itself. A series of discussions and consultations at local, national and regional levels are planned through 2022, ahead of a spring 2023 convergence in a global Nyéléni forum (named after a legendary woman farmer from Mali).

Asylum seekers stuck on Diego Garcia start hunger strike Dozens of Tamil asylum seekers launched a hunger strike in May after eight months stranded on a secretive UK-run military base in the Indian Ocean. They were taken to Diego Garcia when their boat was intercepted by UK forces. They are demanding to be allowed to claim asylum in a safe third country.

Caribbean movements call for reparations during Royal tour Prince William and Kate Middleton faced protests over slavery and colonialism during a visit to the Caribbean in March. Advocates Network, a human rights coalition of Jamaican activists and equalities organisations, released a statement giving 60 reasons for an apology and compensation, in keeping with Jamaica’s upcoming 60th anniversary of independence.

Global Coastal Rebellion over climate threat to oceans

In February, activists from 20 countries including Argentina, South Africa, Colombia, Germany, Spain and Peru mobilised for the Global Coastal Rebellion. The demonstrations sought to draw attention to the damaging impact that fossil fuel exploration and fracking by transnational companies, such as Shell, is having on the world’s oceans and biodiversity. Protesters called for corporations to face accountability for their actions and to stop polluting the oceans.

Several actions also made reference to a recent oil spill from a refinery owned by Spanish corporation Repsol on Peru’s Pacific Coast, which has caused untold damage to oceanic wildlife and fishing communities. Campaigners are calling for Repsol to clean up their mess and pay compensation to the communities affected. The organisers are hoping to hold similar demonstrations to coincide with the G7 meeting in Germany in June.

Liberian nurse ‘applauds’ big pharma at Davos

George Poe Williams protests at Davos in the Swiss Alps.

A frontline nurse from Liberia launched a ‘round of applause’ for Big Pharma executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May. In a protest designed as a satirical reversal of the global applause for frontline workers, George Poe Williams sought to highlight the continuing failure to agree a patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines and treatments at the World Trade Organization. While the CEOs of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and a wide array of billionaires met inside the WEF secure area, Williams was stopped by police outside the perimeter shortly after beginning his protest.

“If I wanted to earn what Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla made last year, I would have to work every single day until 6100 AD,” he said. “But what makes me really furious is that Bourla and many of his billionaire buddies here at WEF are doing all they can to block our demands for a patent waiver – just so they can make even more money.”

© Leo Hyde Public Services International