Greenpeace Canada heads to Scandinavia to tackle Statoil investments in tar sands
May 12th, 2009
Greenpeace Canada and Greenpeace Nordic have teamed up to fight the tar sands on both sides of the Atlantic, focusing on Statoil Hydro across Scandinavia and pressuring the company to pullout of their Alberta investments. The delegation is travelling throughout Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the lead-up to Statoil’s AGM on May 19. Statoil is the largest corporation in Scandinavia and a major player in the Alberta tar sands. The biggest project in Statoil’s portfolio over the next decade is the tar sands, despite the company’s so-called commitment to renewable energy.
“You can’t be a leader in renewables and pretend to be a green corporation when you’re invested in the dirtiest oil on the planet,” said Martin Norman, Greenpeace Nordic energy campaigner. “The message is clear: dirty oil and renewables don’t mix.”
The delegation includes several prominent figures in the ongoing campaign against the tar sands. Joining Greenpeace is Dr. John O’Connor, who has gained international notoriety after blowing the whistle on extremely elevated levels of rare cancers and auto-immune diseases plaguing the downstream community of Fort Chipewyan. His story, and that of the community he served, was recently profiled in Downstream, a film by Academy Award nominated director Leslie Iwerks, which will be screened in Norway. Also on the tour is renowned journalist and Tar Sands author Andrew Nikiforuk who will uncover myths around In Situ and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and Melina Laboucan-Massimo, who will speak on behalf of the Lubicon First Nation and outline the runaway pace of development and how it is displacing her community and destroying the traditional way of life of many First Nations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
“The Norwegian public has a right to know that their publicly-owned energy company is invested in the destruction of one of the most precious, diverse ecosystems on the planet,” said Nikiforuk. “The tar sands are out of control and by 2020, the tar sands project will be producing more CO2 emissions than two nations the size of Norway.”
As a stakeholder in Statoil, Greenpeace has put forward a motion that Statoil withdraw their investments from the tar sands. After the delegates present their case in Stavanger, Norway, Statoil investors will vote on the motion.
The delegation has meetings set up with prominent Statoil investors, MPs as well as national media outlets in all three countries. For updates on their progress, visit greenpeace.ca.
http://albertatalks.ca/2009/05/12/greenpeace-canada-heads-to-scandinavia...
