Get the FF Out': Campaigners Reject Fossil Fuel Influence at Climate Summit
12/8/2014

'We’d be outraged if we thought the tobacco industry was dictating our government’s policy on public health, but that’s exactly what’s happening with climate policy.'



Fossil fuel industry lobbyists have no place at a climate conference, charged activists who on Monday shut down a "greenwashed" fossil fuel industry panel at the United Nations climate talks in Lima, Peru.

Seizing on the event as an example of the corporate influence that has pervaded COP20 and all previous climate negotiations, protesters donned t-shirts that read"#GetTheFFout" and crowded the small event space. Activists from indigenous communities in Colombia, Peru, Canada and other communities affected by fossil fuel development spoke about the environmental and human rights violations frequently perpetrated by fossil fuel companies.

"Shell has left the Niger Delta an environmental disaster area, a crime scene that is tantamount to ecocide, and crimes against humanity," said Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria. "They have no place in Nigeria, or in the climate negotiations, and there is no place for dirty energy in a sustainable energy future."

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/08/get-ff-out-campaigners-reject-fossil-fuel-influence-climate-summit

...“The same polluting industries most responsible for causing the crisis are getting to decide how we respond to it – and shifting from business as usual is not part of the plan. Without tackling the influence of the fossil fuel industry, we’re never going to stop dangerous climate change. That means banning fossil fuel lobbying at all levels, not just in the UN talks, by which time it’s often too late to make a difference.”...

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2014/12/08/activists-protest-outside-fossil-fuel-industry-side-event-cop20