Shell petrol stations closed to stop Arctic drilling

Hi there,

Right now, Shell petrol stations are being shut down across London and Edinburgh.

Teams of Greenpeace volunteers are fanning out across the two cities, going station to station shutting down the pumps. In total, over 100 forecourts will be out of action. We're broadcasting live throughout the day on a special online TV channel - watch live now.

Why are we doing this? Because Shell is lining up a fleet of huge oil drilling vessels and later this month, for the first time, will start drilling for oil in the Arctic, off the coast of Alaska.
You can protect the Arctic from Shell's dangerous plans. We're declaring a global sanctuary around the pole, to become enforceable by international law, that will mean a ban on oil drilling and other activities that threaten the Arctic.

There isn't much time to stop Shell's plans. Sign up now to help us create an Arctic sanctuary, safe from Shell and other reckless oil companies. Over 850,000 people have already signed up - join them!

The Arctic is a dangerous place to go drilling - an oil spill would wreak havoc on the fragile, vulnerable environment. Shell's own plans show how difficult it will be to mop up if a spill happens in the Arctic.

By chasing after hard-to-reach oil in remote and dangerous places, Shell is putting polar bears, walruses and other Arctic wildlife at risk.

That's why we're shutting down the pumps at so many Shell petrol stations.
You can stop Shell. Join us in declaring a global Arctic sanctuary.

Let's go!

Jamie Woolley

PS Tune in to our live online TV channel to get the latest updates from the closed Shell forecourts, throughout the day.

Burn Shell's cash. Not its oil

Hi friends

Great news. One of the world’s biggest ethical funds has removed Arctic drillers from its books. Now let’s get the rest to follow suit.

Last year we met with and then wrote to investment giant F&C in a bid to persuade them to ditch Arctic drillers Cairn Energy from their list of ethical investments.

Well, recently, they did just that. The Scotland Herald confirmed the good news, reporting that F&C "had adopted a general policy to screen out any oil firm drilling in the Arctic".

This is a big success. But hundreds of thousands of you have called for the Arctic to be off-limits to oil drillers (thank you), and together we can do more:
Tell the top fund providers who have any environmental screens in place on their funds to  drop Arctic drillers from their books.

Ethical and environmental funds rely on people with a conscience - people like you - to tell them where they should put their money. Your pressure can help persuade them to ditch Arctic drillers, draw a protective red line around the Arctic and tip the balance against companies like Shell.

But this is about more than just money. We need to establish a consensus among investors that drilling for oil in the Arctic is unacceptable. It is reckless. It is wrong.

As a recent Observer editorial said, the Arctic is “the most environmentally sensitive region on the planet” and it is “too precious to be left unprotected.”
Let’s get 20,000 messages to environmental fund providers, telling them to screen for Arctic drillers and drop them from their books. Right now.

Thank you,
Charlie Kronick
Senior Climate Advisor
Greenpeace UK

PS If you haven’t yet sent an email to Shell’s boss telling him what you think of his plans, you still can