Yesterday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that the “industrial slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has not curbed record levels of greenhouse gases which are trapping heat in the atmosphere, increasing temperatures and driving more extreme weather, ice melt, sea-level rise and ocean acidification.”
Despite the warnings for years that we cannot burn new reserves of oil if we want a liveable climate, the West's top nine oil majors alone are sitting on more than 28 billion barrels of oil equivalent of undeveloped resources. Much of this could end up going from being an asset to a liability, just as many predicted.
Trump seems determined to try and push his rabid fossil fuel agenda through to his last day in office. Until the dying breath of his Presidency, he will do the bidding of Big Oil.
Tomorrow evening, our colleagues at PlatformLondon will be hosting an online global arts event in collaboration with MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People), Shake! And Virtual Migrants, to not only celebrate the Ogoni 9, but also for people to hear from other frontline environmental defenders from key battles against the oil industry. It promises to be an inspirational evening.
Another grim, painful milestone is reached. It is now a quarter of a century since Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 9 were murdered in Nigeria by Shell.
As the world’s attention is focussed on the outcome of the US election, a disaster is unfolding live further south. As I write, Hurricane Eta is battering the coast of Nicaragua, with experts warning it could lead to catastrophic winds, flooding and loss of life.
