.Global activists confront oil major CEOs at fancy dinner on sidelines of New York Climate Week
Two days after hundreds of thousands marched through New York demanding action to confront the climate crisis, youth activists disrupted a greenwashing event attended by several oil major CEOs.
They then joined global frontline movement leaders to denounce these polluting corporations’ abuses and demand real, people-first solutions to address the climate crisis and ensure polluters pay for the damage they have knowingly caused.
The event, organized by the industry-funded Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), included CEOs from some of the largest and most destructive corporations in the world: BP, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, Repsol, Oxy, PEMEX, Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Petrobras, Shell, and Total.
At the invite-only dinner, CEOs of the world’s major oil and gas corporations attempted to cozy up to environmentalists and government representatives on the sidelines of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit.
As the dinner began, seven youth activists attempted to enter the meeting, disguised as hotel staff and dinner attendees. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to present an award to the CEOs present for knowing and lying about climate change and its harms for decades, while continuing to extract and burn fossil fuels. Event security and the NY Police Department escorted the young activists out, claiming that the event required “presidential-level security”. After the interruptions, the activists joined a protest outside where Harjeet Singh, Sostine Namanya, Philip Jakpor, and Edric Huang spoke to the abuses of these corporations, demanded that they pay for their damages, and called for real solutions to address the climate crisis.
Following the press conference, organizers projected messages on the frontage of the Gramercy Park Hotel:
System change not climate change.
100 companies, 71% of global emissions. 13 of their CEOs in this hotel.
Make polluters pay. Make Big Oil pay.
For the last several years, OGCI has touted its support of the Paris Agreement, but its member corporations like Exxon and Shell have knowingly fueled the climate crisis, funded climate deception, and spent billions of dollars seeking to undermine climate action. Tomorrow, the oil and gas executives are scheduled to hold an all-day industry meeting and “youth dialogue” at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan.
