Greenpeace presented Shell with an unwanted gift on Wednesday morning – a three-tonne animatronic polar bear planted directly outside the oil and gas company’s London headquarters.
It is part of an on-going Greenpeace campaign against Shell’s Arctic drilling, which had been approved by the Obama administration two weeks ago. The environmental group says it is placing the area at extreme risk of an oil spill.
Actress Emma Thompson joined activists from 4am as they moved the giant polar bear from a secret location to outside Shell’s London headquarters near Southbank. As part of the demonstration, Thompson read an original poem penned for Shell bosses.
Watch her performance below.
She told The Independent that it’s unbelievable what Shell is doing in the Arctic.
“They’re proposing to continue drilling until 2030, by which time, if they take the oil out that they want to take out, the Earth’s temperature will have risen by four degrees.”
“By that time all their grandchildren will be facing things that compared to the crises we are looking at now in our lifetime, it will make them look like a cakewalk. If that’s what they want for their grandchildren, then I don’t understand that kind of selfishness.”
Watch our interview with the two time Oscar-winning actress.
Thompson does not intend to stop at just reciting a poem. She is challenging an injunction set by Shell which comes into action on Wednesday at 2pm.
Watch her defiant message.
The polar bear named Aurora is an imposing structure which is the size of a double-decker bus. Inside it hosts six protesters who are locked inside so the polar bear cannot be removed by police.
We had a tour inside the structure.
Alongside Thompson was a long-time activist Audrey Siegl who passionately addressed the crowd outside Shell’s headquarters.
Protests have taken place outside Shell’s London headquarters for the past month. Last week, Charlotte Church performed the song ‘This Bitter Earth’ as part of a month-long series of orchestral demonstrations held outside the building by musicians.
Greenpeace campaigner, Elena Polisano told us about the importance of having public figures and musicians involved.
