Climate protesters in kayaks block Ineos’ Grangemouth oil terminal
A huge climate camp was set up in protest against the Ineos base in Grangemouth.
This morning, four protesters kayaked into the water beneath the Hound Point oil terminal and held up banners that read “Resist and Innovate.”
One of the activists entered the terminal with a banner reading “Ineos: Profiting from Poverty and Pollution”.
All four activists returned to shore and no arrests were made.
Read more: Scotland’s ‘biggest protest camp in a decade’ is set up near a refinery
The destination terminal is directly linked to Ineos’ oil refinery in Grangemouth, where the company also operates a power plant and chemical plant.
The protesters pointed to Ineos’ operations in Grangemouth, which generated 2.4 million tonnes of annual emissions when the SEPA was last surveyed.
The company has ambitions to use fossil fuels to produce hydrogen.
Ineos have been fined multiple times for safety breaches, while premature deaths in the city of Grangemouth are significantly higher than the national average.
The company announced £474m profit for 2022.
Douglas Renshaw, a website developer who was involved in the occupation, said: “The workers at Ineos do not benefit: they are bombarded with bans on strikes, wage freezes and cut pensions.”
“Grangemouth’s communities are not benefiting: they have been sacrificed for being on the frontline of Scotland’s biggest source of carbon emissions.
“Our lands and seas don’t benefit: they get polluted by the plastic and emissions from Ineos.”
“The climate and energy crisis is already hitting us hard. We need to work together across communities for a better future.”
dr Mairi Spanswick, a doctor who was involved in the cast, said: “Unless we switch to daily routines, by 2050 we will need three planet Earths to support our lives. And we live on a dying planet.”
“People and habitat are now dying due to emissions from companies like Ineos. Jim Ratcliffe, majority owner of Ineos, lives in a tax haven in Monaco and his home in England is on stilts to protect against emissions-related flood risks.
Read more: The challenge of cleaning up Grangemouth without causing economic ruin
“Yet he doesn’t care about our energy security as 80% of our North Sea oil is exported and he obviously doesn’t care about the people of Grangemouth where this billionaire’s profits are made in one of the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland.”
“We have a moral duty to promote the profits of genocide and ecocide. As a doctor, I have a duty to protect health and climate catastrophes are the greatest risk to the health of the planet and people.”
A spokesman for Ineos said: “Ineos operates a safe, sustainable business from its Grangemouth site that serves the Scottish economy well, providing skilled jobs and essential products while meeting its climate stewardship.”
“Ineos is one of the last remaining major manufacturing companies in Scotland. We supply many of the basic raw materials that are essential to many of the products we all use every day.”
“We are committed to delivering these products safely and sustaining thousands of direct and indirect jobs while working towards being a net zero manufacturer by 2045. And we are making good progress, significantly reducing emissions from our operations.”
“Since purchasing the Grangemouth site we have already reduced emissions by almost 40%. Our next step, utilizing hydrogen and carbon capture via the Acorn project, will take our reduction to >65%. Our roadmap beyond that will reduce this even further to net zero by 2045.
“We trust that camp attendees will look after their own safety and be respectful of the city and those around them while enjoying a peaceful event.”
Murray has targeted Labor’s climate priority
Meanwhile, a separate group of climate protesters have been demonstrating outside the offices of senior Labor leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland’s Shadow Minister Ian Murray.
The group Green New Deal Rising interrupted Si Keir’s keynote speech on education last week, claiming the party has watered down previous commitments to address the climate crisis.
Activists are staging sit-ins outside key members of the Shadow Cabinet constituency offices and will organize these sit-ins every Friday until Labor agrees to back a green new deal.
Read more: Rosebank oil field decision will be ‘delayed’ due to climate concerns.
The first round of suspensions are taking place today in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds and Hove. They are expected to grow over several weeks.
Fatima Ibrahim, co-director of Green New Deal Rising, said: “The Labor Party cannot take our votes for granted.
“We tried petitions, we wrote letters, we asked for meetings. We need Labor now to mean business and support a Green New Deal.
“We will meet Keir Starmer anytime, anywhere.”
Calum Hodgson, a member of the Edinburgh group, said: “We are protesting here because, as Scotland’s only Labor MP, we need to see Ian Murray doing more for young people in Scotland.”
“He previously wrote in support of a green New Deal. So if he is serious about tackling the climate crisis, we must stand him up and speak out against the current backsliding of the Labor leadership.”
