Home > Press releases > 1999
24 Mar 1999
PHOTOCALL
Demo at Esso UK HQ, Ermyn Way, Leatherhead, Surrey
7.30am onwards, TUESDAY 23 March 1999
FOE will leaflet staff, asking them to urge their company to improve
its environmental performance. Campaigners dressed as climate security
guards will sound a warning that Esso is a climate change villain.
Friends of the Earth International today publishes a report revealing
that Exxon and its new partner Mobil are two of the most environmentally-damaging
corporations in the world. The shocking new evidence comes on the tenth
anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the worst oil disasters
in history [1].
The FOEI report catalogues the oil companies' activities across six
continents. These threaten important habitats and the health and prosperity
of indigenous people. The report also reveals that ten years after the
Valdez spill, Prince William Sound has not recovered[2].
Exxon and Mobil are also shown to be playing a key role in blocking international agreements to fight dangerous climate change. Friends of the Earth is calling on Exxon and Mobil to follow the lead of Shell and BP by leaving the powerful industry lobby group,the Global Climate Coalition, and increasing investment in cleaner, renewable energy technologies. At their AGMs in the US in April, Friends of the Earth campaigners will call on the companies to report to shareholders on their potential liability for damages associated with climate change.
Tony Juniper, Policy and Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth
said:
"Ten years after causing one of the worst oil disasters in history,
it is clear that Exxon has not learnt any lessons and is still showing
little respect for the environment and the local communities in which
it operates.
To cap it all, Exxon and its new corporate partner Mobil have been
leading the fight against legislation to combat perhaps the most serious
environmental threat facing the planet - global climate change. It's
time these fossil fuel dinosaurs recognised the benefits to their shareholders
as well as to society as a whole of switching investment to cleaner,
renewable energy technologies."
The report marks the launch of an international campaign against Exxon
and Mobil involving Friends of the Earth groups in the following countries:
UK, United States, Canada,Argentina, Japan, Nigeria, Finland, Ireland,
Ecuador. Campaigners in all these countries will be staging actions
to mark the tenth anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on 24 March.
[2] New research from the Alaska Wilderness League "Preventing the
Next Valdez: Ten Year's After Exxon's Spill" Mar 1999, available from
FOE.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
