A Halloween protest against petrol giant Esso, and its stance on climate change, took place today (Saturday) at Bristol road Tesco Express. "Esso Busters" from Birmingham Friends of the Earth chased the Esso "Fossil Fuel Fiends", led by the fiendish Esso tiger, around the petrol station forecourt, highlighting to passing motorists and shoppers the nightmare impacts of future global warming [1].
Climate change could cost the lives of millions of people, but Esso has been lobbying against international action to tackle the problem, helping to persuade US president George W. Bush not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol – the only international treaty to tackle climate change.
Birmingham Friends of the Earth is urging motorists to boycott Esso until it stops its climate agreement-wrecking stance. The protest marks the end of international talks on climate change, taking place in New Delhi, Oct 23-Nov 1st.
Birmingham Friends of the Earth's climate campaigner, Jagdev Sarmotta, said:
"The impacts of climate change will be a nightmare for the entire world. It's time Esso woke up to the horror we all face and stopped ruining international attempts to tackle the problem. Our message to the public is simple – if you're scared about global warming, don't buy Esso".
Editor's Notes
[1] Esso is the world's biggest oil corporation, and has used its influence to try and prevent effective international action to tackle climate
change. Esso successfully helped persuade the United States Government to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol – the only international agreement to cut the pollution causing global warming.
Esso denies the link between global warming and the burning of oil, coal and gas, and even lobbied President Bush to get rid of the world's top climate scientist as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change!
The world's leading climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predict a rise in global temperature of up to 6 degrees centigrade by 2100. This warming will change our weather, cause more droughts, floods and storms, and could cause sea levels to rise by nearly 1 metre. The impacts will be particularly severe in developing countries. The talks taking place in New Delhi are focussing on how to help
developing countries adapt to the threat of climate change.
coalition was launched in May 2001, after US President George Bush announced he was pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol. The campaign has attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters who now refuse to fill-up at Esso, and is damaging Esso's public relations image. A recent MORI poll has shown that the boycott campaign is affecting Esso's sales: last year 26% of petrol buyers said they filled up at Esso, but this year it has fallen to 19%.
