'Injunctions' served as rig protest ends
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GREENPEACE yesterday ended its 12-day protest on a drilling rig in the Cromarty Firth by handing over "people’s climate injunctions".
The climate campaigners ended the stand-off over BP drilling in the North Sea by handing in the "injunctions" at the oil firm’s headquarters in Aberdeen and London, where they also held protests. It said the documents called on BP to stop drilling new wells and switch to renewables immediately. Activists on the Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, read the injunction to the oil rig over radio.
Campaigners boarded the Transocean rig on June 9, which had been bound for the Vorlich oil field east of Aberdeen.
Greenpeace climbers occupied the rig, delaying its departure for five days. The Arctic Sunrise then shadowed the rig into the North Sea. In a final attempt to block the rig's path, a swimmer with a banner tried to prevent the rig from anchoring.
Greenpeace said the rig cost BP £140,000 a day to hire from operator Transocean, which had nearly 100 oil workers on board.
John Sauven, executive director at Greenpeace UK, said: "For the past 12 days we've seen what one Greenpeace ship and a handful of dedicated activists can achieve. But they weren't alone. There's a movement of millions calling on companies like BP to clean up their act and truly address the climate emergency."
Sarah North, the campaigner who swam before the rig, said: "We have used every possible peaceful means to stop BP drilling for more oil than we can’t afford to burn. Each day we’ve held BP off is a day we’ve prevented them further fuelling the climate emergency."
A BP spokesman said: "Greenpeace’s irresponsible actions have put people and property unnecessarily at risk, and diverted valuable time and resources away from public services. Progress to a lower-carbon future will depend on coming together, understanding each other’s perspectives and working to find solutions."
Gareth Wynn, of Oil and Gas UK, said: "There are no winners as a result of this stunt – which both put safety at risk and failed to produce any solutions to how we can achieve the net zero future we all want to see."
