Climate Activists Disrupt Keynote Speech at 'Data centres Ireland' conference

20th November 2024, 10 am at RDS, Dublin, as seated conference goers looked on, a group of climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) disrupted Data Centres Ireland's annual conference, by interrupting keynote speaker Barry Lowry. Mr Lowry is the Chief Information Officer for the Irish Government. His talk was titled 'A contextual commentary on AI's contribution to Ireland's data centres industry.' Activists stood up in front of the stage and chanted messages including "We don't want AI Taking Palestinian lives" and ''Genocidal projects, Lavender and Nimbus".  The chants reflect that AI is being used for nefarious and unlawful purposes.  The group demands a moratorium on data centres in Ireland, as they already use 21% of the country's electricity and many are investing in on-site, private fossil-fuel generation.

Simultaneously a larger group from XRI linked arms in front of the building entrances, impeding conference goers' entry to the annual data centre conference. They blocked the doors holding banners between them and chanting their demands for a moratorium on the building of new data centres.  The protestors remained in place until threatened with arrest. They then joined Friends of the Earth Ireland, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Not Here Not Anywhere and others in protesting outside the gates of the RDS, holding banners reading "No More Data Centres,'' and  "Moratorium now".

This is the third time XRI has targeted this conference, to draw attention to the rapid growth of data centres in Ireland, which they say is incompatible with climate action.  Ireland currently has 92 data centres in operation, and this year their electricity usage overtook the total amount used by Irish households.  The total electricity usage of data centres has risen from 5% of Ireland's grid in 2015 to 21% in 2023. The EU average for this figure is 2%. 1, 2

Protestor Thomas Morelli, an apprentice mechanic from Dublin said, 'The ongoing genocide of Palestine is being facilitated and worsened by the development of AI. Project NIMBUS and Project Lavender are two examples. Ireland also exports a considerable amount of data storage space to Israeli entities - this is unacceptable and inhumane'

Protestor, Tom Spillane, a student from Limerick said, "The growth of data centres here is out of control.  Of course a certain amount of the data stored in data centres is important. However, the vast majority of the data is 'junk data' - approximately 90% of it is digital junk, used for advertising stuff we don't even need and for mass user surveillance.''

He continued, 'We have to press pause on the growth of data centres. The energy demands of data centres are running rampant and our grid has reached capacity. The government has been allowing data centres to build their own private gas-fired power stations to power them under the "Private Wires" programme. This is outrageous."

Protestor Maureen O'Connor, a retired teacher living in Newbridge said, 'The continued and accelerated development of data centres in Ireland is devastating. There is no chance of us meeting our EU 2030 energy reduction targets with continued development of data centres in Ireland. This will result in billions of Euros in fines, which the taxpayer will pay the brunt of, while big techs profits will continue to soar.'

Fiachra, an XRI protester and agriculture worker from Dublin, said "The growth in AI is causing a huge energy demand at a time when we need to be focusing on degrowth to transition away from fossil fuels.  All the renewable energy generation Ireland has developed in the past year has immediately been far outstripped by the growth in data centres and their power usage, making them incompatible with climate action."
Fiachra continued, "Many of the societal effects of AI seem to only contribute to further wealth concentration, insecure working conditions and privacy violations.  We have to ask are any of the benefits of this technology worth jeopardising our chances of a liveable future?"

1. https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/libraryResearch/2024/2024-07-23_spotlight-data-centres-and-energy_en.pdf
2. https://bitpower.ie/images/Reports/2024_Q4_Market_Update_Ireland_v1-2.pdf

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ACTIVISTS USE DUBLIN-NY PORTAL TO CREATIVELY HIGHLIGHT THREAT OF LNG

24th August 2024, 5pm, Dublin Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) staged a coordinated  international anti-LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), anti-fracking protest today at the Dublin - New York Portal with activists from Sane Energy, New York. Irish protesters chanted “from Dublin to NYC, we say no to LNG” and “New Fortress Energy, we don't want your LNG”. Both sides communicated with each via hand signals and shared sound files. On the New York side, activists displayed banners opposing fracking and other banners highlighting their ongoing fight against an LNG storage facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Protestors on the Irish side symbolically shut down a “gas pipeline”.

US groups have been vocal in their support of the Irish anti-LNG campaign, and actor Mark Ruffalo has regularly stepped in to urge the Irish government to ban LNG. In June he said on twitter:

“greenparty_ie should not break its promise & move forward w/ gov’t funded LNG import terminal. The US gov’t has a ban on LNG export permits while it assesses the national security & climate risks. Why isn’t Ireland doing the same?”

Today's action was in response to pre-application talks between American Company New Fortress Energy and An Bord Pleanála regarding a planning application for a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) off the coast of Ireland - following the rejection of the company’s previous application last September and the Energy Security Review report last November recommending a “temporary” LNG import terminal as a gas reserve. Fracking was banned in Ireland in 2017 but is still commonly used to extract gas and oil in the USA. 

Ian Mac an Ghaill, XRI rebel and teacher, said:

“This action highlights the shared grievances of anti-fracking, anti-LNG activists from across both sides of the Atlantic and the madness of considering Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage as an energy security solution, when the overarching threat to a secure future is the climate crisis. Methane leakage and energy-intensive processing means that LNG is more polluting for the climate than coal. Bringing LNG fossil fuel infrastructure to Ireland for the first time risks locking us into highly polluting dirty energy for decades to come. We need a cleaner, brighter, gas-free future.”

Priscilla Grim from Sane Energy New York said:

“We gather here today to connect New York City to Dublin in the inspiring spirit of the Portal project. We stand united with our friends across the Atlantic who also oppose toxic LNG projects on their shores. Known data on LNG pipelines reveals that in the average year there are nearly 6,000 pipeline explosions, fires and leaks, causing 300 deaths and over 1,000 injuries in the US. We say no to this toxic substance in our communities.”

Thomas Morelli, XRI Arts Coordinator said: 

"The government must reject the Energy Security Package 2030 recommendation to build a state-led LNG terminal. They must introduce a policy to unconditionally ban all LNG terminals, in line with the May 2021 policy statement on the importation of fracked gas, and in line with the Programme for Government."

Photo by M Sedlmayr

Photo by M Sedlmayr

Photo by M Sedlmayr

Photo by K Handy

Photo by M Sedlmayr

Extinction Rebellion call out J.P. Morgan’s sponsoring of Crusaders Athletic Club’s 5K as an Unholy Alliance

The climate rebels embarrass the Company and the Club by highlighting the title sponsor’s status as world’s #1 financier of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement

Photo by Alessandro Summer

Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin, 11th July 2024, 7:45pm As about 2,000 runners assembled, awaiting the start of the Docklands 5k, a group of Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists with banners and flags, drummed and gave speeches, drawing their attention to the fact that the race’s main sponsor is the world’s  number one financier of fossil fuels since the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement and urged them to contact race organisers - Crusaders Athletic Club - to tell them not to take sponsorship from JP Morgan in the future. The activists pointed out the irony that, due to sea-level rise caused by the climate crisis, the course of the race is likely to be under water within the lifetime of many of the runners. 

The activists held a large banner emblazoned “J.P. Morgan – sponsoring Crusaders AC’s 5K & Climate Chaos” with an image of Beckett Bridge and runners being submerged in rising water. One speech referred to the fact that access to Crusaders' home stadium in low-lying Ringsend is likely to be under water within a few decades. A three-metre-high scythe-wielding, skull-headed “climate reaper” puppet covered in the logos of fossil fuel companies that JP Morgan has financed, symbolised the death and destruction caused by the climate chaos that JP Morgan is funding. The reaper danced to the beat of the drumming. Other activists wearing bibs saying “JP Morgan, Climate Chaos Champion” and “JP Morgan Divest from Fossil Fuels" handed out leaflets headed “JP Morgan and Crusaders AC - an unholy alliance”, and spoke with runners and onlookers about the sponsor’s status as the number one financier of fossil fuels since the signing of the Paris Agreement, with fossil fuel financing totalling $430.9 B from 2016 to 2023. 

Photo by Alessandro Summer

JP Morgan also ranks worst among banks committing financing to companies with fossil fuel expansion plans. Earlier this year, JP Morgan announced that they would leave the Equator Principles, which set minimum standards on risks to the environment and local communities in countries where they finance oil, gas, coal, infrastructure, and mining projects. 

Photo by Alessandro Summer

XRI’s Trisha Kiersey, a grandmother from Shankill said “I do not think it is appropriate for a leading Dublin athletics club to accept sponsorship from a climate laggard such as JP Morgan. With the rising profile of Irish athletics on the European and world stage, I’m sure there are other more suitable sponsors out there who would be willing to lend their name to the Docklands 5K in the future.”

Photo by Alessandro Summer

The 2023 IPCC synthesis report states that no more fossil fuel sources can be opened if we’re to avoid a significantly worsening climate crisis. It states that three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate breakdown and half of the global population now experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. It warns that in many areas, “we are already reaching the limit to which we can adapt to such severe changes”. 

Photo by Alessandro Summer

The activists accused Crusaders AC of “sportwashing” JP Morgan’s public image. “JP Morgan sends billions of dollars to fossil fuel companies each year, causing massive environmental problems, and they think they can counteract all the bad publicity by giving a few thousand here and there to sports groups like Crusaders” said activist Sean Loughran of Balgriffin.

Photo by Alessandro Summer

XRI wrote to Crusaders last year asking them to revise their sponsorship policy to exclude companies with ties to the development of fossil fuels but did not receive a reply. Activist Angela Deegan from Drumcondra, said, “I ask Crusaders to think, in the future, do they want to be part of the solution to the crisis or part of greenwashing the problem. And with the climate crisis escalating, how long before it gets too hot for athletes to compete in these 5Ks?”

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Resources:

Banking on Climate Chaos 2023 - Banking on Climate Chaos 

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

EXTINCTION REBELLION ACTIVISTS GLUE THEMSELVES TO MANSION HOUSE ENTRANCES DISRUPTING BLACK-TIE DINNER FOR TRILLION EURO FOSSIL FUEL FUNDERS

Dinner-goers forced to use back entrance as activists demand asset management member organisations stop funding fossil fuels 

9th May 2024, Mansion House, Dublin: From 7:15pm, there was confusion and anger among guests arriving for the Irish Funds Industry Association's annual members' dinner at the Round Room as they found the entrances blocked by Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists. Event-goers were forced to use the back door as protestors swarmed the main entrances holding banners reading "STOP FUNDING CLIMATE CHAOS" and "CLIMATE EMERGENCY". Other protestors drummed and chanted,  "A trillion euros in coal and oil, divest now before we boil". Their demand was that the many asset management companies that are members of the Irish Funds Industry Association (Irish Funds) divest from fossil fuels - investments that, as of January 2023, totalled over $1.23 trillion (€1.14 trillion at the then exchange rate)*.  

The Irish Funds member companies with the largest investments in fossil fuels were singled out for the strongest criticism. These included the top three - Vanguard, BlackRock  and State Street - which alone accounted for $267 billion, $261 billion and $133 billion respectively of the total fossil fuel investments. Irish Funds also counts many of the so-called “Dirty Dozen” banks as members, including JP Morgan Chase and Citi. The “Dirty Dozen” are 12 banks that dominate the financing of fossil fuels. 

At the Dawson Street gate, two activists dressed as dinner-goers had their hands glued together and the other hand glued to the gate. Another activist was glued to a side entrance. To gain access to the Round room for the 7:15 pre-dinner drinks and 8pm dinner, event-goers were forced to walk to the back of the building and enter through a back entance.

One of the glued-on activists, "Nan", a retired school principal from Westmeath said, "We won't stay quiet and let these people sit around wining and dining in their fancy suits and gowns, congratulating themselves on how rich they've gotten from selling off the future of our planet. If they want to keep making money out of fossil fuels then we're not going to make it easy for them. It's too bad if we ruin their swanky dinner plans - sure they could always try the takeaway round the corner if they don't want a quiet meal - they do a great spice bag. And maybe they can spare a thought for the millions suffering from the food shortages and famines that their investments in fossil fuels are already causing."

Following recent successes brought about by prolonged and intense pressure from campaigners, such as the announcement by Barclays Bank that it will stop direct financing of new fossil fuel projects, XRI continues to target large financial institutions demanding divestment from fossil fuels.

Father of three, and tech worker, Seán Loughran, who was glued on at a side entrance said, "For decades, Irish Funds members like JP Morgan Chase and BlackRock have funded fossil fuel projects despite all the science we have on their destructive impact. Barclays didn't decide to stop financing fossil fuels because their shareholders suddenly grew a conscience. No, it was down to people out on the street applying pressure trying to make a difference. But we need loads more people getting out there. We all need to work together to put a halt to runaway climate change, to fight for our future and our children's future."

Father of two, stay-at-home parent, and writer Oran Doyle said, "I find it astonishing that, even though the International Energy Agency warned in 2021 that there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal if we're to reach net zero emissions by 2050, these companies are still doing it. They're investing in new projects and in exploring for additional oil and gas reserves. They know that these reserves can't be used without blowing past our remaining carbon budget for 1.5 degrees, but it's still happening."

Ireland has experienced a number of extreme weather events over the past year, with record rainfall attributed to increased sea temperatures in the North Atlantic. Recent research has shown that rainfall intensity in Ireland is increasing at a rate of 8.2% per degree of global warming. Globally, every month since last June has been the warmest such period on record. Last month, the long-term trend of human-caused global warming was cited as a factor for the heavy rainfall which devastated the North-western region of Kenya killing 71 people. 

Protestor and software engineer, Juan José Perez, whose family in Colombia have been affected by both flooding and water scarcity, said, "The thought of some of the biggest global asset management companies that are funding climate destruction sitting down to wine and dine with their cronies is sickening. The contrast between this elite, black-tie affair and the carnage being wreaked by climate disasters is overwhelming. We have to disrupt these companies and take away their social license to force them to divest from fossil fuels. We will continue to be loud and disruptive until these companies stop derailing our future by funding fossil fuels."

Besides driving the climate crisis, according to the Global Energy Monitor, new oil and gas developments are also at high risk of becoming stranded assets — meaning premature or unanticipated closing, due to market or other forces.

Today's action follows XRI protests demanding divestment from fossil fuels in March at the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland conference and in 2023 at the Dublin offices of BlackRock, J P Morgan and CitiBank.

Resources:

*The €1.14 trillion figure is calculated from data on Irish Funds member organisation investments in coal, oil and gas companies listed on the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) or the Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL). Data was collected in January 2023 and aggregated on group level (see Resource 1). 

(1) https://investinginclimatechaos.org/data

(2) https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/

(3) https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2023/11/27/barclays-banks-superglued-shut-in-nationwide-action-against-climate-criminals/

(4) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/barclays-adopt-fresh-curbs-oil-gas-financing-2024-02-09/

(5) https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2024/03/26/rain-rain-and-more-rain-what-is-driving-the-recent-wet-weather-ireland-has-been-experiencing/

(6) https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/humans-are-changing-irelands-climate-maynooth-research/

(7) https://www.thejournal.ie/global-temperature-streak-hottest-april-on-record-6373786-May2024/

(8) https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/29/africa/kenya-floods-mai-mahiu-intl-hnk

(9) https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/climate-activists-smoke-bomb-dublin-32269841

Activists blocking the main gate to the Round Room with security guard in foreground
Photo by C Carney

Outside the Gate to the Fire House Restaurant - an entrance which diners started to use after realising the main entance was blocked, but which soon got blocked by a quick-thinking activist
Photo by C Carney

Garda Public Order Unit arrives
Photo by K Handy

Irish Funds Industry Association members being forced to enter their annual dinner by going around the back of the Mansion House.
Photo by K Handy

Photo by K Handy

EXTINCTION REBELLION DECRY JP MORGAN FOR FUNDING CLIMATE CHAOS IN DISRUPTIVE CONVENTION CENTRE PROTEST

Monday March 4th, 8:45am, Convention Centre, Dublin 1: A group of 30 protesters led by Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) protested JP Morgan as conference goers arrived for a Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) conference - of which JP Morgan is a major sponsor. A two metre high scythe-wielding, skull-headed “climate reaper” puppet, covered in the logos of fossil fuel companies that JP Morgan has financed, symbolized the death and destruction caused by the climate chaos that JP Morgan is funding. Protestors held banners emblazoned with skulls and fire, set off smoke bombs, drummed and chanted as they demanded that the company stop funding climate chaos. They also decried BPFI's legitimizing of the company by accepting sponsorship from them.

JP Morgan Chase is the world’s number 1 financier of fossil fuels since the 2015 Paris Agreement while its asset management division is one of the top investors in major oil and gas companies. A 2023 fossil fuel finance report states that JP Morgan Chase provided over $434 billion globally in fossil fuel finance between 2016 and 2022, putting them at the top of the “Dirty Dozen” - 12 banks that dominate the financing of fossil fuels. A 2023 assessment of asset managers’ climate action reports that JP Morgan Asset Management has bonds and shares totalling $25.7 billion in fossil fuel developers. A 2022 report on asset managers, fossil fuels and climate change lists them as one of the top investors in the 12 major oil and gas expansion companies.

Last month, JP Morgan Asset Management announced their departure from Climate 100+, an investor-led initiative "to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change". Dr. Alex Nico-Katz, scientist and XR Rebel said,

"By dropping out of Climate 100+, JP Morgan has shirked from taking even the slightest responsibility for its destructive actions. They talk up their investments in renewables, but they're talking out of both sides of their mouth. The simple fact is that JP Morgan is a huge financer and funder of fossil fuels and the emissions caused by burning fossil fuels are setting us on an apocalyptic path of climate catastrophe. Today, we remind conference hosts and attendees of this reality and that it is infinitely more pressing than any of our day-to-day work dealings. Those working within the financial industry have more power than most to make a real difference. All banks must stop financing fossil fuel companies immediately and asset managers must stop investing in fossil fuels."

Dr Johnny Collins of Irish Doctors for the Environment which supported today's protest, said,

"Investing in fossil fuels is actively destabilising our planet even further and jeopardising human health and human lives. The climate crisis is in every way a health crisis”.

Last month, Barclays bank, as a result of prolonged and intense pressure from campaigners over the bank's destructive energy policy, announced that it will stop direct financing of new fossil fuel projects. Protestor, retired university administrator and XRI rebel Trisha Kiersey of Shankill, Co Dublin said,

"I'm here today protesting because I know that activism can and does make a difference. We see it with the Barclays announcement. But we need lots more people out protesting and getting engaged in this fight for our future. When your children and grandchildren ask you what you did to stop runaway climate change, you're going to want to be able to look them in the eye and say you did what you could."

In 2023, XRI consistently targeted JP Morgan for their fossil fuel funding. In June, they called out their sponsorship of the Docklands 5K run - proceeds of which went to Crusaders Athletic Club - as an exercise in image laundering. Conference host, BPFI, is the self-proclaimed “principal voice of banking” in Ireland.

Its Chief Executive, Brian Hayes, said in a speech at COP 26 that “Every financial decision we take as a sector needs to take climate into account. I want to make it crystal clear that climate action is a key priority for BPFI".

Jenni Waldron, administrator and an XRI activist who attended the protest, said,

"The decision by BPFI to accept sponsorship from JP Morgan, the world’s top financier of fossil fuels, puts them in a really bad light. Their CEO said in the past he wanted climate action to be a key priority for BPFI, but I can't believe that when I see JP Morgan's name over this conference".

In the past year, Ireland has experienced a number of extreme weather disasters that can be attributed to climate change. A recent study showed that the extensive flooding caused by Storm Babet in Midleton, which damaged 680 properties, was over twice as likely to happen at current global temperatures compared to pre-industrial times. Professor Peter Thorne, who collaborated on the study, predicts "that in a two-degree warmer world, which is where we're heading, if not beyond, the rainfall will be made even more frequent and even more severe."

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Drumming, chanting and generally protesting JP Morgan outside the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland conference - sponsored by JP Morgan, top financier of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement. Photo by A Deegan

The Climate Reaper. Photo by E Connolly

Photo by E Connolly

EXTINCTION REBELLION IRELAND AND PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT SPILL "OIL" ON STEPS OF JP MORGAN OFFICES DEMANDING THEY DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS

Saturday December 9th, 1pm, Dublin 2: Members of Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) and People Before Profit (PBP) spilled "oil"  from canisters emblazoned “Death by Oil” on the steps of JP Morgan's offices on Sir John Rogerson's Quay as they demanded that JP Morgan Chase divest from fossil fuels, after the US based bank provided $39.2 billion in funding to the fossil fuel industry in 2022.

The action coincided with a Global Day of Action for Climate Justice along the route of a march from Grand Canal Square to the GPO. The march, marking COP 28, was organised separately, by the Climate Justice Coalition, of which XRI and PBP are members and which formed in the run up to COP 26. The Coalition comprises many grassroots social justice and environmental organisations, individuals and trade unions, calling for a Just Transition away from fossil fuels, while protecting the most vulnerable members of society and providing a better life for all. This march passed by the front of the J.P Morgan office on its route and participants cheered to show support for the action on the steps of the building. 

JP Morgan Chase have consistently been ranked among the worst financial institutions for investing in fossil fuels, according to the Rainforest Action Network’s “Banking on Climate Chaos” Report. The most recent report states that JP Morgan Chase provided over $434 billion globally in fossil fuel finance between 2016 and 2022, more than any other bank. JP Morgan Chase are the top of the “Dirty Dozen” - 12 banks that dominate the financing of fossil fuels.

XRI have consistently targeted JP Morgan this year, along with Citi bank and asset management company, BlackRock.  In March, five XRI rebels disrupted J.P. Morgan Dublin’s “Women in Technology” networking event, interrupting it with speeches drawing attention to the harm the company is doing by financing fossil fuel companies. In May, they staged a die-in blocking the entrance to the Irish Funds Global Funds Investment Conference, demanding that the Irish Funds Industry Association expel J.P. Morgan and 13 other major global banks and asset management companies that are among the top funders of fossil fuels. In June, XRI protested at the Docklands 5K run, calling out JP Morgan for sponsoring the event as a way of laundering their image.

Maud Slangen of XRI said:

“This week there were more fossil fuel lobbyists than ever at the 28th COP. This toxic industry that is killing the planet, and blocking urgent climate action is funded by financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase. If the money is taken away they will fall. JP Morgan talk up their investments in renewables, but without divestment from fossil fuels this is meaningless. To secure a livable future we need all banks to immediately and entirely divest from fossil fuels.

We act in solidarity with communities from the Global South being worst affected by the climate crisis while once again being under-represented and ignored on the international stage” 

Paul Murphy TD, climate and environment spokesperson for People Before Profit said:

“Ireland is acting as a conduit for the transfer of billions of euros of investment in fossil fuels and agri-business in the Global South. More than $6 billion is held in bonds and shares in polluting industries by investment managers registered in Ireland. JP Morgan is a key part of this problem. To avoid an unlivable planet we need to stop investing in fossil fuels. The profits of JP Morgan and the richest corporations in the planet must not continue to come before the future of the majority.”

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EXTINCTION REBELLION IRELAND AND NOT HERE NOT ANYWHERE PROJECT-"MAKE AMAZON PAY" ONTO THEIR DUBLIN OFFICE BUILDING AT PROTEST AT THE END OF BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND

On Cyber Monday November 27th 2023 5PM, at the end of the the busiest shopping weekend of the year, members of Extinction Rebellion Ireland and Not Here Not Anywhere gathered at Amazon's Dublin office at 2 Burlington Road to protest their practices of climate destruction, worker abuses and tax dodging.  The protest was held as part of an international action across the Black Friday weekend from the Make Amazon Pay campaign.

Activists held a giant cheque to represent that the company owes ireland "Damages for Abuse of Workers, Environmental Destruction, Tax Dodging and Neo Colonialism"

As the sun set, large graphics including the messages "Make Amazon Pay", "More Data Centres = More Blackouts", "€43.8 Billion in Profit, €0 in tax" and "Inhumane Working Conditions, Union Busting Tactics" were projected onto the walls of the building.  A similar action was carried out on the company's German Headquarters in Berlin on Black Friday last year. 

Today and through the weekend and Monday, Amazon faces strikes and protests in over 30 countries around the world in a massive day of action coordinated by the Make Amazon Pay campaign.  These include:

• More than 200 workers with the GMB union were striking on Friday at Amazon's warehouse in Coventry in England as part of a long-running dispute over pay.

• In Germany, Amazon's second-biggest market by sales last year, workers at five fulfilment centres in Bad Hersfeld, Dortmund, Koblenz, Leipzig and Rheinberg started a 24-hour strike at midnight on Friday to demand a collective wage agreement, trade union Verdi said.

• Italian trade union CGIL called for a Black Friday strike at the Castel San Giovanni warehouse, while Spanish union CCOO called for Amazon warehouse and delivery workers to stage a one-hour strike on each shift on "Cyber Monday", the last day of Amazon's ten-day sale.

• Climate protests in at least seven countries - Japan, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and Canada - at Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilities to call out Amazon’s greenwashing, its data centres' growing climate impact and electricity consumption, and AWS contracts with fossil fuels companies. 

• Thousands of workers rallying and protesting in more than ten Indian cities.  

• Bangladeshi Garment workers taking mass action in Dhaka to demand a minimum wage of $209 per month, an end to police harassment, which has seen trade unionists killed, and demand that Amazon signs up to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety.  

This is the fourth year that Make Amazon Pay has organised a global day of action on Black Friday. In previous years, thousands of workers went on strike at facilities throughout Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Italy, garment workers’ took to the streets in Bangladesh, workers in the US organised walkouts, civil society allies held demonstrations projecting the Make Amazon Pay logo at Amazon headquarters all over the world, projecting “pandemic profiteer” onto Jeff Bezos mansion, and climate activists blockaded Amazon warehouses in three European countries.

Co-convened by UNI Global Union and the Progressive International, Make Amazon Pay brings together over 80 unions, civil society organisations, environmentalists and tax watchdogs including UNI Global Union, the Progressive International, Greenpeace, 350.org, Tax Justice Network and Amazon Workers International. The campaign is united behind a set of common demands that Amazon pays its workers fairly and respects their right to join unions, pays its fair share of taxes and commits to real environmental sustainability.

At the Dublin protest:

Emilio Maira Santos a Unite Union organiser and former Amazon employee said:

"Amazon's company model is built on imperialism and the destruction of nature. We've seen how they sent money to Israel supporting their settler and ethnic cleansing plans, while at the same time they destroyed products as if our planet had no limits.  From the worker's movement, we offer international solidarity and the alternative for a democratically controlled planned economy that respects the limits of nature."

A representative of Extinction Rebellion Ireland said:

"We condemn Amazon's mistreatment of workers in warehouses in Ireland and worldwide and throughout their supply chain.  While ordinary people are struggling to pay energy bills and heat their homes here, Amazon recently got permission to build 3 new data centres in Dublin, adding to the strain the data economy places on the grid and prolonging the use of fossil fuels.  They operate here to take advantage of tax loopholes and use vast amounts of our energy and water supply, which we see as a new form of colonialism.  The current expansion of data centres and big tech in Ireland is incompatible with a Just Transition away from fossil fuels and incompatible with a livable future."

A representative of Not Here Not Anywhere (NHNA) said:

“It is obscene that Amazon are looking for planning permission for three more energy hungry data centres in Dublin, despite the Commission for Regulation of Utilities deeming this a constrained region that cannot handle any more. This rapid expansion of data centres is untenable and if Amazon builds all of their planned centres they would consume a whopping 4.4 per cent of the State’s electricity supply. That’s why Not Here Not Anywhere have been calling on the government to “Press Pause” on new Data Centres until common sense policy is enacted to regulate them. The people of Ireland shouldn’t be forced to bear the brunt of these low-employment, modern day landfills through higher electricity bills, fossil fuel lock-in and potential blackouts.”

This week:

Senator Lynn Boylan and participant in the Summit to Make Amazon Pay said.

"Amazon is failing our planet. At its current rate, Amazon won't reach its stated 2040 net zero target until 2378," "In my country, Ireland, Amazon’s hunger for relentless expansion will contribute to us exceeding our carbon budget with plans for three new data centres, whose insatiable demand for electricity drives up demand for gas. The unbridled expansion of data centres has raised alarms, with EirGrid warning of grid instability and the risk of rolling blackouts. Across the world, Amazon Web Services is deeply involved in different phases of oil production, focusing on pipelines, shipping, and storage for oil and gas companies. It's time to Make Amazon Pay for its environmental damage."

Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, said: 

"From the warehouses in Coventry to the factories of Dhaka, this Global Day of Action is more than a protest. It is a worldwide declaration that this age of abuse must end.  Amazon's globe-spanning empire, which exploits workers, our communities and our planet, now faces a growing globe-spanning movement to Make Amazon Pay."

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GODDESS ÉRIU PLEADS FOR FREEDOM FROM PLUNDER AT HANDS OF BIG TECH DATA CENTRES AT EXTINCTION REBELLION PROTEST

RDS, Merrion Rd, Dublin 23rd November 2023: From 12:30 pm to 2pm, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists staged a lively protest at the main gates of the RDS while the Data Centres Ireland exhibit and conference took place inside. The centrepiece of the “No More Data Centres - Power Communities, not Big Tech” protest was the mythological Ériu, Goddess of Ireland, pleading against the plunder of her resources by Data Centres. 

XRI objects to data centres on the basis of their huge energy and water use, the fact that they already use as much electricity as all urban households and that usage is forecast to double by 2030, the threat they pose to reaching greenhouse gas reduction targets and the fact that there’s little transparency around the types of data services being provided and what categories of customers these services are provided for.

Data centres used 18% of Ireland's electricity in 2022 - the same as all urban households. And their electricity usage is set to double by 2030.  And each data centre has a water demand equivalent to a large Irish town. Some studies estimate that only 19% of data stored is business critical. 

Protestor Seán Loughran of Balgriffin, who is active with both XRI and Fingal One Future said,

“With the climate crisis spiralling into catastrophe, it is madness to let profit-driven Big Tech accelerate our energy demand with these data centres that store mostly frivolous data. Data Centres should never have been allowed without proper regulation being in place first.”

The government has set a target of reaching 80% of electricity generation from renewables by 2030. This will be challenging and made more so by the fact that data centres are causing electricity demand to rise sharply. 

Angela Deegan of XRI said,

“It seems like we’re always missing our climate targets and it’s heart-breaking. By letting electricity demand skyrocket through the rampant construction of data centres, the target of 80% electricity from renewables by 2030 gets much harder to achieve than it already is. Even worse is that when the big tech companies behind data centres were told they couldn’t connect to the grid in the Dublin area any more, because of supply constraints, they just applied instead to get gas connections so they could have their own private gas-fired power stations. And it’s looking like we’re going to have up to 11 of these fossil-gas-guzzling data centres, which is insane.”

She continued,

“We need a ban on new data centres. Unfettered data centre growth is what Big Tech wants, regardless of what it means for energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. We must call a halt to it now.”

-end- 

EXTINCTION REBELLION ACTIVISTS CALL FOR EMERGENCY MEETING WITH MINISTER EAMON RYAN TO DISCUSS RULING OUT LNG IMPORTS

Dublin, 16th November 2023: Following their protest outside his department offices this morning and brief interaction with his private secretary, Extinction Rebellion Ireland contacted the Minister, repeating their demand for an emergency meeting with him to discuss why it’s critical to rule out LNG imports.

The text of the email was as follows:

“Dear Minister Ryan,

This morning, Extinction Rebellion Ireland expressed our outrage at the stance you adopted this week, as Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, in recommending a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) as an energy security solution. We know that an FSRU means LNG imports. In a hastily convened protest, we highlighted the dangers of LNG by staging, outside your offices at DECC, an “LNG tanker” leaking “methane”. 

In the last election, the Green Party campaigned against the importation of LNG. That stance was included in the Programme For Government as a ban on the import of fracked gas - which effectively rules out LNG imports - because it’s entirely unfeasible to verify that any LNG imported is from gas that was produced without fracking. With 12 months at most left in Government, if breaking with Government partners on this issue means the collapse of Government, that is a sacrifice worth making. This issue is too major to compromise on. Too much depends on it.

Ireland’s addiction to fossil fuels must end. There can be no new fossil fuel infrastructure. Fossil fuels are destabilizing our climate. LNG is just as bad in terms of greenhouse gas emissions as coal (and by some reports, worse). Scientists are screaming at us to slash emissions. You must heed them and not lead us down a path of destruction. 

The most important duty of your Ministerial position is to safeguard the future of the people of Ireland. There is little you can achieve between now and the next election that could be as impactful as heading off the threat of LNG imports. We consider this issue to be urgent and we formally now ask you for an emergency meeting with us by mid-December, to discuss with you why it is critical to rule out LNG imports.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Love and rage,

Angela Deegan and Nathan Edgar Hutchinson

Activists with Extinction Rebellion Ireland”

Extinction Rebellion Ireland will continue to put pressure on the Minister if he refuses to meet with us. 

- END - 

Extinction Rebellion Ireland rebels stage sit-in at DECC Offices and “LNG tanker” leak in Reaction to Eamon Ryan’s LNG announcement

DECC offices, Dublin 2, 9am Thursday 16th November 2023: Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists began a sit-in this morning of the offices of the Dept of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) in protest of the Minister’s recommendation of a floating LNG terminal option as energy security solution in the report Energy Security In Ireland to 2030 published by DECC on Wednesday. Meanwhile, outside the offices, activists from XRI and other groups, including Fingal One Future, protested and staged a leak in a tank on board an 18-foot-long “LNG Tanker”. 

The occupiers demanded a meeting with the Minister to insist that he honour the Green Party’s commitment in the Programme For Government to ban imports of fracked gas - a commitment which effectively rules out LNG imports. 

Angela Deegan, one of the XRI activists occupiers said:

“It is outrageous to consider LNG storage as an energy security solution when the overarching threat to a secure future is the climate crisis - a crisis driven primarily by the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels like LNG - plus the fact that LNG facilities are so vulnerable to terrorist attack, not to mention the potential devastation to any surrounding communities in the event of an accident at an LNG facility.”

Seán Loughran of Fingal One Future said ,

“True energy security in this country means renewable energy, demand management and demand reduction. And that means a moratorium on data centres which are a threat to our energy supply and climate targets.”

Liquefied Natural Gas is “natural gas” that has been compressed to liquid form by cooling it to around −162 °C to enable its transport by tanker to markets where it can be re-gasified for distribution. The additional energy required to process LNG and the high levels of methane leakage in all stages of its supply chain make it 20% more GHG emissions-intensive than short-distance gas - no better than coal or oil in terms of its emissions in fact. 

Sinéad Sheehan of Futureproof Clare said,

"Futureproof Clare is supportive of the occupation of the DECC because the government body had failed miserably to do its job. Green Party Minister Eamon Ryan had a chance to do the right thing and prevent fracked gas from entering Ireland for good. It is on Minister Ryan's watch that the government has now advocated for a floating LNG terminal and we won't stand for it". 

Commenting on Minister Ryan’s decision Johnny McElligott, of Saftey Before LNG, Kerry said,

"It's a strange world when so-called Green politicians can move from a ban on LNG terminals importing fracked gas, to a ban only on commercial LNG, to now supporting the construction of a "non-commercial commercial LNG terminal" with a public-private partnership where LNG will have to be traded and replenished regularly due to evaporation. They are paying more attention to word games and increasing gas demand at a runaway pace for data centres than their pre-election promise of no new large-scale fossil fuel infrastructure”.

Aside from its terrible lifecycle emissions, LNG is also a highly unstable and explosive substance. If it spills, it can turn into rapidly expanding clouds of vapour capable of flash-freezing human flesh. LNG vapours can become uncontrollable fires that are so hot that they can burn people up to a mile away. 

At the May 30th Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action on “Liquefied Natural Gas and Oil Prospecting”, expert witness Professor Barry McMullin, Faculty of Engineering and Computing at Dublin City University, stated,

“In terms of geopolitical risk, any geopolitical actor that has both the means and interest in attacking the gas connection infrastructure between Ireland and the UK, by definition, has the means and interest to attack LNG import infrastructure. Therefore, LNG import infrastructure does not actually mitigate that geopolitical risk.”

LNG terminals have been identified by the United States Congressional Research Service as a potential terrorist target: "Because LNG infrastructure is highly visible and easily identified, it can be vulnerable to terrorist attack." The report continues, "LNG tankers and land-based facilities may be vulnerable to terrorism. Tankers could be physically attacked to destroy their cargo—or commandeered for use as weapons against coastal targets. Land-based LNG facilities could also be physically attacked with explosives or through other means. Alternatively, computer control systems could be “cyber-attacked,” or both physical and cyber attack could happen at the same time."

- END -

Judge refuses Climate Activists ‘Just Cause’ plea in Dáil Lock-on Case

Dublin, 2:30pm, 28th September, 2023 At the Criminal Courts of Justice, in a landmark case for environmental activism, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists Rónán Ó Dálaigh and Art Ó Laoghaire were convicted on charges from 10th October 2019 for locking themselves to the gates of the Dáil at Merrion Square South, to escalate their demands for urgent, comprehensive government climate action in the fact of the climate crisis. Both defendants were sentenced to €500 fines. Rather than the ‘just cause’ argument put forward in the defendants’ case - that the wholly inadequate response of the Government to the climate crisis compelled them to engage in civil disobedience - the judge focussed on the possibility that Dáil staff may have been inconvenienced by the lock-on, due to vehicle access from the Dáil car park being blocked. After removal of the locks by the Gardaí, Ó Dálaigh and Art Ó Laoghaire were arrested under Section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act. 

Ó Laoghaire, a father of two and semi-retired teacher of EFL who volunteers teaching Ukrainian refugees said,

I expected a suspended custodial sentence, so I’m relieved that didn’t happen. But the whole process demonstrates yet again that the legal structure is designed to support the State hegemony which is in hock to financial interests. We feel a jury would have been more sympathetic to our arguments, but the way the legal system works here means we can’t get to be heard before a jury. 

“Climate events around the world since October 2019 have demonstrated that the crisis is more serious than we realised then, more serious than the IPCC had predicted. And our government has still failed to grasp the seriousness of the crisis. We need a radical change to our financial system and lifestyle, a radical change to what we produce and consume. We can't have infinite growth on a finite planet. While pursuit of profit rules, we will continue to have a climate crisis, a housing and health crisis, a refugee crisis.”

In his statement to court Ó Dálaigh, a social entrepreneur from Dublin, said ,

“I was, and remain, driven to taking direct action due to the unequivocal scientific consensus that life on earth is at risk. In particular, the most vulnerable communities around the world are the first to feel the damage. Not only has the Irish state failed in its moral and legal obligations to address the crises, but in fact it has participated in making the situation worse, through the continued increase of emissions, catastrophic biodiversity loss and failure to support a just transition. The democratic process in Ireland is not facilitating the required change, and there is therefore a duty on those most privileged in society and the global north to take direct action.”

The lock-on incident was part of XRI’s larger, week-long peaceful demonstration in Merrion Square dubbed Rebellion Week, highlighting the government's negligence in addressing the urgent and escalating climate emergency as a humanitarian crisis. The group’s explicit demands were the passage of the Climate Emergency Measures Bill 2019, adherence to the Citizens Assembly's recommendations, and the termination of plans for an LNG terminal at Shannon. These actions were deemed essential to fulfil the UN’s directives for a radical reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Ireland’s 2021 Climate Act closed the door on new exploration activities for oil and gas. However it still allows for renewal of existing licences. Planning permission for Shannon LNG was denied by An Bord Pleanála earlier this month.

Dr Sinéad Sheehan, University of Galway said,

“Those who locked onto the gates of the Dáil by their necks, and all those who stood and sat together on that night did the right thing. The cause of climate justice was to the fore, and by making this bold statement, that they would not move until forced to, for that night at least, the ordinary people took our power back.”  

"As our planet teeters on the brink of irreversible climatic damage, acts of moral conviction are needed desperately"

said Jo Murray of XRI.

"Rónán and Art symbolise the collective resolve of those striving for ecological balance, emphasising the pressing need for meaningful climate legislation."

END

Extinction Rebellion Ireland activists locked on to the gates of the Dáil, Merrion Square South 10th October 2019 during Rebellion Week.

Extinction Rebellion calls out J.P. Morgan’s sponsoring of Docklands 5K as an exercise in image-laundering

The climate rebels embarrass the company by pointing out to event attendees the title sponsor’s status as #1 financier of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement

Dublin docklands, 16th June 2023: Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists made things uncomfortable for J.P. Morgan - title sponsor of the annual docklands 5K run - throughout yesterday evening’s event. About 20 activists wearing bibs saying “JP Morgan, Climate Chaos Champion” and “JP Morgan, Divest from Fossil Fuels" engaged with participants and onlookers about the sponsor’s status as the number one financier of fossil fuels since the signing of the Paris Agreement, with financing totalling $434.1 B from 2016 to 2022 and its huge investments ($17.9 B) in the top 12 major oil and gas expansion companies. Their large, colourful “J.P. Morgan - sponsoring 5Ks and Climate Chaos” banner drew a lot of attention from the runners as they waited for the race to kick off. The slogan contrasted the resources the company pumps into fossil fuels - the main source of the greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis - against sponsorship of a community event as an attempt to launder their image.

Taking care not to impede any runners, the activists handed out leaflets headed “J.P. Morgan sponsoring the escalating climate crisis”. They also chanted “J.P. Morgan pick a side - Divest now or ecocide”. Jeffrey Seathrún Sardina, PhD researcher, XRI activist who competed in the 5K said "Our demand that JP Morgan divest from fossil fuels is, at its core, an act of self-defence. All of nature is under threat, and every euro they put into dirty energy is another attack on the natural world. This needs to stop."

The latest (March 2023) United Nations IPCC report states that “Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe” and that “Risks and projected adverse impacts and losses and damages from climate change escalate with every increment of global warming”. 

It states that greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure is already more than enough to push the world beyond 1.5°C of global heating compared with pre-industrial times. This means that no more fossil fuel sources can be opened if we’re to avoid a significantly worsening climate crisis. Three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate breakdown and half of the global population now experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. It warns that in many areas, “we are already reaching the limit to which we can adapt to such severe changes”. 

Activists requested event-goers sign XRI’s petition calling on the Irish Funds Industry Association to expel J.P. Morgan and 13 other major global banks and asset management companies that are among the top funders of fossil fuels. These include Amundi, BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Invesco, LGIM, State Street, UBS, Vanguard, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi Bank and RBC.

All the proceeds from the event went to Crusaders Athletic Club. XRI will be communicating with the club to ask them to revise their sponsorship policy to exclude companies with ties to development of fossil fuels.  Semi-retired EFL teacher, Art Ó Laoghaire, currently on remand facing charges related to a climate protest in 2019 said, “I ask Crusaders to think in the future, do they want to be part of the solution to the crisis, or part of greenwashing the problem. And with the climate crisis escalating, how long before it gets too hot for athletes to compete in these 5Ks?”

XRI’s Docklands 5K action follows protests earlier this year demanding divestment from fossil fuels at the Dublin offices of BlackRock, J.P. Morgan and Citi bank and at the Irish Funds Global Funds Investment Conference.

END

XRI banner displayed as runners approach the finish line

As runners wait to get going, activist holds up “JP Morgan Sponsoring Climate Chaos” sign.

XR activist with her athlete cousin before the race

Getting ready for the 5K - with a message for J.P. Morgan!

Extinction Rebellion’s Earth Day ‘slow cycle’ event demands government implement all recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss without delay

Dublin, Saturday, 22nd April 2023: Members of the public including members of 51st Skates, iBike, environmental groups and NGOs including Oxfam, joined in a city-centre, family-friendly “Slow Cycle for Biodiversity” event organised by Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI). Some wore colourful animal masks and costumes. Others had branches or XR flags attached to their bikes. The demand of the participants was that the government implement all the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss without delay. 

The event kicked off at 10am when the group of about 100 began to roll their way on bikes, skates and scooters from the Garden of Remembrance down O’Connell St, eventually finishing up at St Stephen’s Green. They were accompanied by music from loudspeakers. Along the way, some handed out leaflets highlighting nine of the major recommendations of the report. The occasional colourful smoke bomb was let off, adding theatre to the event. At St Stephen’s Green, the crowd had lunch and heard speeches on biodiversity.

“The Citizens’ Assembly Report highlighted what scientists have been saying and the government has been ignoring for years: that Ireland’s biodiversity is in an extreme crisis”, said Sineaid Whelan, XR member and student. “Now that the Citizens’ Assembly has given us concrete measures to combat this crisis, the government must listen to the people and urgently implement these measures”.

XRI’s Leslie Marce said, “The protection of biodiversity is vital to the future of humanity. Unless urgently stopped, the destruction of ecosystems due to climate change, pollution and land use changes will lead to severe consequences, including on human health, but also on food and water supply”. 

Of the 159 recommendations in the Citizens Assembly’s report, issued in the last fortnight, this event drew attention to the following nine recommendations in particular:

• A referendum to amend the Constitution to protect biodiversity.

• Fundamentally reassessing the constitution, goals and operations of Coillte and the 1988 Forestry Act, with biodiversity and community at the forefront of the priorities.

• A designated and effectively managed network of Marine Protection Areas, in line with EU targets of 30% of Ireland's Maritime Area by 2030 at the latest.

• A new national strategy for the protection, maintenance, restoration and expansion of Ireland's network of hedgerows.
  

• An urgent increase in investment by Irish Water to build new, and improve existing, water treatment plants to prevent the unacceptable discharge of raw or partially treated sewage into any fresh or marine waters.
  

• Further subsidised and incentivised organic farming and locally grown produce.
  

• Reducing the use of pesticides in public and private by at least 50%.
  

• Fully implementing and enforcing the cessation of turf-cutting on protected areas.
  

• An immediate timeline on the phasing out, and eventual ban, of the sale of invasive plant species.

The action coincided with protests attended by tens of thousands across Britain from the 21st to the 24th of this month, in a campaign dubbed ‘The Big One’ organised by Extinction Rebellion UK. The UK branch decided to temporarily cease its disruptive actions at the start of 2023, to “prioritise attendance over arrest”, hoping to gain public support, form alliances and build mass attendance for this week’s non-disruptive actions. They say if the UK government does not deliver on their demands by Monday evening, XR UK will resume disruption and plan a campaign of mass civil disobedience. Today huge crowds gathered for ‘The Big One for Biodiversity March’ in central London. 

END

“No 'Women in Tech' on a Dead Planet” - Extinction Rebellion Ireland disrupts J.P. Morgan networking event

Interrupting a Women in Technology event the activists underscored the bank’s hypocrisy in promoting equality while endangering billions of lives with their fossil fuel investments. 

Video of the protest available to download here

Dublin, 24th March 2023: Yesterday evening, five climate activists with Extinction Rebellion Ireland interrupted the proceedings of J.P. Morgan’s Women in Technology event in their offices at Sir John Rogerson's Quay to highlight the company’s guilt in escalating the climate crisis through J.P. Morgan Chase’s role as the world’s top banker in fossil fuels. They demanded that J.P. Morgan divest from all fossil fuel companies and declared that “There are no women in tech on a dead planet”.

With about 40 mostly young women in attendance and panelists seated on-stage ready for the panel discussion to begin, the five female activists seated around the room stood up in sequence, interrupting the host’s introduction. Each activist made a succinct speech, building the case for why attendees should reject J.P. Morgan as a potential employer. They described J.P. Morgan as “part of the machinery that is funding climate chaos and driving the destruction of our planet”, and emphasized the disproportionate effect of climate disasters on women. They also urged existing employees of the company to demand that their employer divest from all fossil fuel companies. 

After their speeches they chanted “J.P. Morgan pick a side, divest now or ecocide” and made their way to the front of the room where they displayed flags with the Extinction Rebellion logo and signs bearing “Women for Climate Action” and “J.P. Morgan Divest”. Eventually the organisers had no choice but to guide attendees out of the room, relocating the event upstairs. The activists remained to talk to staff about their responsibility in the company, before leaving peacefully.

This week saw the release of the 6th United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report (AR6) containing the stark warning that “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all”. The AR6 Summary for Policymakers states “The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.” It adds that “public and private finance flows for fossil fuels are still greater than those for climate adaptation and mitigation”. 

One of the five activists, UCD student Sineaid Whelan, stated “The message from the world's climate scientists couldn’t be clearer. We must immediately slash emissions if we’re to avoid apocalyptic scenarios of climate catastrophe. With our outbursts at this J.P. Morgan event, we jolted the hosts and attendees out of business as usual. Every one of us can and must stand up to the forces of evil that are driving the climate crisis forward. And J.P. Morgan is one of those forces. More of us must demand that they divest from fossil fuel companies.”

According to the Banking on Climate Chaos 2022 report, J.P Morgan invested USD 382.4 billion in fossil fuels in the period 2016-2021, beating out the next biggest financier of fossil fuels by 35%. Their financing in that five year period included USD 225.71 million in the Adani Group which owns the Carmichael coal project - an enormous fossil fuel project violating Indigenous Rights in central Queensland in Australia. In that period they also financed Gazprom, the Russian majority state-owned energy corporation and fossil fuel giant Exxon Mobil Corporation to the tune of USD 4.6 billion and USD 15.3 billion respectively. 

Yet sustainability features prominently on J.P. Morgan’s website. Their stated sustainability commitments include a goal of “transitioning to a low-carbon economy”. However, the company increased their fossil financing by $10 billion between 2020 and 2021. In her speech at the event, Emer Connolly of Drumcondra highlighted the company’s greenwashing. In a statement she said “J.P. Morgan claim they’re taking climate action, but this is pure greenwashing because, of all the banks, they are by far the biggest funder of fossil fuels.“

Other activists at the event pointed out the double-standard of J.P. Morgan trying to attract women to the company, when women make up the majority of the world’s poor and are disproportionately impacted by climate change that is driven in large part by the company’s investments in fossil fuels. They also pointed out estimates that 80% of people displaced by climate change are women - which leads to violence, sexual violence & human trafficking.

Student Síofra Byrne, Dublin said “This is what we know. Fossil fuel emissions are causing climate change. Climate change is endangering the lives of billions of women. J.P. Morgan is funding those fossil fuels. And their answer is to hire more women? If you want the world to be a better place for women then stop setting it on fire.”

Extinction Rebellion Blocks Entrance To Blackrock Asset Management Offices In Action Demanding Fossil Fuel Divestment

Says the company’s fossil fuel investments are escalating the climate crisis

Ballsbridge, Dublin, Mon 27th February, 12pm: As the first step in its nonviolent civil-disobedience 2023 campaign, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) have taken action against the world's largest asset management company, BlackRock, at the Ballsbridge offices of its Irish subsidiary - to demand that BlackRock stops all new investment in fossil fuels. Activists blocked the main entrance of the building and displayed a banner with the message “BlackRock Divest from Fossil Fuel Ecocide”. 

As of December 2021, BlackRock, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company manages a staggering $10 trillion of other people's money. That’s more than the gross domestic product of every country in the world, except for the US and China. Among the 30 major global asset management companies active in Europe, BlackRock has the largest holdings ($133,466,000) in major oil and gas companies engaged in expansion projects. The company is also the joint biggest bondholder of coal companies with expansion plans.

To coincide with this action, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) have released an ‘Address to the Nation’. In this video, the group calls on the public to join them in the fight against the climate crisis and demand the change needed.

“The fact that new investments are still being made in fossil fuels at this stage of the climate crisis is obscene. BlackRock is actively profiting from a business that is destroying our collective future. Millions of people are already suffering from extreme weather events & food and water scarcity caused by their greed and short-sightedness. Meanwhile, BlackRock's profits have been rising year on year” said UCD student and XRI activist Sineaid Whelan.

“Every tenth of a degree of warming matters in this climate crisis” said Manuel Salazar from XRI, adding, “We are in a critical time window now where we must urgently act to avoid a level of warming that leads to the worst case scenarios of climate catastrophe. And we can’t just stand by and allow giant, wealthy corporations like BlackRock to jeopardise our chances.”

The activists also wanted to draw attention to “BlackRock’s blatant greenwashing and hypocrisy”, as Sineaid Whelan put it. Blackrock is a member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and Climate Action 100+, an investor-led initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change. It is also a member of  Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. However, as recently as October, 2022, in a statement to a British parliamentary committee, the company blatantly stated that it will not stop investing in coal, oil and gas. When asked by the committee about its policy on its fossil fuel holdings, BlackRock told the UK committee that it “expected to remain long-term investors on behalf of clients in carbon-intensive sectors”. A recent ShareAction report found that BlackRock voted against 88% of shareholder resolutions on climate change and climate-related lobbying in 2019/2020. BlackRock has the second worst voting record on climate proposals among the 37 CA100+ companies included in this report.

“Their membership of these groups would lead you to believe that BlackRock cares about stopping the funding of the fossil fuels that are driving climate change. But no, they are trying to have their cake and eat it - appearing on the one hand to care, but when it comes right down to it, refusing to pull the plug on fossil fuel investments. We must stand up to this duplicity.” said protestor Angela Deegan, a retired I.T. worker. 

Protest participant and TCD student, Emer Connolly, stated “With this action, we are demanding a stop to the madness that is investing in fossil fuels”, adding “Governments, fossil fuel companies, and investors in fossil fuel companies must all be held to account if we’re to succeed in slashing greenhouse gas emissions. Extinction Rebellion regularly protests the Irish Government’s lack of adequate climate policies and poor enforcement of climate regulations and demands that fossil fuel companies change their business models away from fossil fuel extraction. With this action today, we’re now holding the biggest investor in fossil fuels to account.” Indeed, following pressure from protests by environmental groups around the world, in 2020, BlackRock agreed to dump certain thermal coal shares from its actively managed portfolios. 

XRI demands the following of BlackRock Asset Management:

• Make fossil fuel expansion a redline in your investment and engagement policies and strategies.

• Establish time-bound demands for fossil fuel companies to stop developing new coal, oil and gas projects, phase down production and adopt short term absolute emission reduction targets.

• Announce sanctions and exclusions for companies that choose not to respond to these demands. 

XRI appeal to BlackRock employees:

• Challenge your employer from the inside  to meet the demands above and protect the environment.

• Organise Walk Outs and raise your voices from the inside.

• Assess your pensions and move away from investments that contribute to the climate crisis.

“Investment in fossil fuels is not only short-sighted but also misses investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector,” said activist and Administrative Assistant, Cría Barry, “If you have savings or pension investments, make sure you ask questions about where they are invested. Asset management companies like BlackRock must stop bankrolling the climate and biodiversity crises. We cannot allow greed for short term profits to be prioritised over the planet’s viability for human and non-human life. There’s no life on a black rock”

XRI rebels Pavels and Sineaid block the front doors of BlackRock, Ballsbridge

-END-