PUBLIC ASKED TO SIGN FULL PAGE ADS IN SUPPORT OF GLOBAL SHELL OIL CLEAN UP CAMPAIGN
Graham Saul
UP CAMPAIGN
December 8th, 2006
MEDIA RELEASE
December 8, 2006
Global Community Monitor Š Friends of the Earth International
Shell Accountability Campaign
PUBLIC ASKED TO SIGN FULL PAGE ADS IN SUPPORT OF
GLOBAL SHELL OIL CLEAN UP CAMPAIGN
NEW WEBSITE CHRONICLES OIL GIANT SHELL'S GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND
ENVIRONMENTAL ABUSES - SEEKS SUPPORTERS
People around the world are being called on to add their name to a
petition of thousands of individuals to the Dutch oil giant Shell to
invest its profits in reducing the damaging impact of its operations
around the globe. The signatures will be used in full-page
advertisements in Dutch and UK newspapers when Shell announces its 2006
financial results on February 1, 2007.
"Thousands of people from around the globe are joining together to tell
Shell, put your money where your mouth is: Use your profits to clean up
your act instead of to cover up," said Denny Larson of Global Community
Monitor - an international group that trains oil industry neighbors to
test for contamination through a method known as "Bucket Brigade"-
(www.gcmonitor.org).
Friends of the Earth, Global Community Monitor and community groups
living next to Shell operations from all over the world are linked
together in the Shell Accountability Campaign and have documented for the
past four years how Shell has failed to meet its own standards or live up
to the green promises used in publicity campaigns through alternative
annual reports published globally. According to the groups' extensive
documentation, the oil giant Shell, despite many promises, is still
causing enormous environmental and social problems at a variety of
locations around the world.
Friends of the Earth International Corporates Campaigner Paul de Clerck said:
"This is the public's chance to tell Shell that they want it to take
responsibility for the social and environmental damage it causes by
having their name in print in a number of newspapers. Shell can no longer
ignore this message".
A preview of the advertisement is available at:
http://www.shelladvert.org/index_engels.html
In 2005 Shell reported the highest profits ever made by a Dutch company
and expectations for 2006 are equally high. Shell is a prominent member
of the Global Compact, an ineffective initiative of the United Nations to
promote Corporate Social Responsibility. Shell also developed Business
Principles and was one of the first companies to produce a yearly
Sustainability Report. Despite all the promises within these initiatives,
people living around Shell facilities and the environment are still
loosing out.
The new Shell Accountability web site features well documented case
studies the oil giant's abuses to human rights and the environment,
including South Africa, Port Arthur, Texas; Nigeria; Sakhalin Island,
Russia; County Mayo, Ireland; Manila, the Philippines; and other
developing nations.
The Shell Accountability Campaign complains that these areas have become
'hot spots' for continued abuse by Shell and that despite meetings and
dialogue with Shell officials locally and at the highest levels, Shell
continues its unethical and polluting practices.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Global Community Monitor, Denny Larson: +1-415-845-4705
Friends of the Earth International, Paul de Clerck,+32-494380959 (Belgian
mobile)
South Africa: groundWork/Friends of the Earth South Africa, Bobby Peek,
ph: +27-824-641383