Local weather protesters storm theatre present over Sadlers Wells fossil gas sponsorship

A ballet efficiency of Romeo and Juliet at Sadlers Wells confronted vital disruption on Thursday night after local weather activists stormed the stage to protest the theatre’s Barclays sponsorship.

5 member of the marketing campaign organisation Fossil Free London hijacked the stage after the interval holding a banner that learn “Drop Barclays Sponsorship”, while two others held placards and chanted “oily cash out” from the wings.

Sadlers Wells contains Barclays financial institution as one among its sponsors. Barclays has continued to fund new oil and fuel tasks, investing over $190 billion in fossil fuels since 2016.

“Like doomed star-crossed lovers, Barclays and Sadlers Wells are trapped in a lethal romance as they change cash for social acceptance, besides on this model, after the worst results of local weather breakdown ricochet the world over, all of us die,” stated Fossil Free London spokesperson, Joanna Warrington.

“By taking their soiled cash, Sadlers Wells’ helps Barclays to launder its soiled picture and is complicit of their climate-wrecking investments. It’s time to chop oily cash out of the humanities.”

Barclays additionally invests within the oil firm Equinor who’re pushing ahead controversial plans for the Rosebank oil and fuel subject within the North Sea. They’re presently ready on the approval of their environmental report by the federal government, due in October.  

Wimbledon, which was focused by Simply Cease Oil protesters this summer season, and the Nationwide Belief have additionally come beneath assault for his or her monetary ties to the financial institution.

Fossil Free London additionally occupied the Nationwide Portrait Gallery earlier within the week, calling for the gallery to ditch the Financial institution of America as a sponsor of their Paul McCartney picture exhibition. The Financial institution of America is the world’s fourth largest fossil gas financier.

They mark on ongoing marketing campaign focusing on oil corporations and their financiers in London. Which is able to culminate in October when the largest names within the fossil gas trade will probably be gathering at a summit, beforehand often known as Oil & Cash, now tactfully re-branded as Energy Intelligence Forum, which Fossil Free London will probably be focusing on to close down.

A Fossil Free London spokesperson advised LFF: “Within the subsequent few weeks, we’ll be taking disruptive motion towards the fossil gas trade and its monetary backers, culminating in Oily Cash Out, a week-long motion to close down the Oil & Cash convention from 14-20 October.

“At this unique summit, the CEOs of oil giants like Shell, Whole, Equinor & Saudi Aramco will probably be schmoozing with the president of the COP28 – who’s himself an oil boss – simply weeks earlier than the local weather talks start. It’s a cynical stitch-up by a fossil gas trade hell-bent on stalling local weather motion. We have to shut it down and minimize oily cash out of our politics.”

(Picture credit score: Fossil Gas London)

Hannah Davenport is information reporter at Left Foot Ahead, specializing in commerce unions and environmental points

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