Greenpeace Activists Climb Shell Gas Platform in the North Sea
Activists from Greenpeace staged another demonstration this time to call attention to their demands for taxes on the fossil fuel industry and the dangers of global warming. They climbed a gas platform off the English coast and unfurled an artwork by Anish Kapoor.
The group reports seven experienced Greenpeace climbers boarded and scaled Shell’s Skiff gas platform located about 45 nautical miles off the English coast between Hull and Norwich. The platform went into production in 2000, jointly owned by Shell and Esso.
“Extreme weather is hitting close to home,” said Philip Evans, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace UK. “The extraction of fossil fuels driving the climate crisis is often out of sight. This artwork is a visual gut-punch that makes visible the suffering and damage caused by the oil and gas industry right at the place where the harm begins.”
The group highlights that they used gas monitors and spark-free gear. They assert the climbers kept clear of the high-risk zones on the platform and were “following industry safety standards.”
Artists Anish Kapoor conceived the work which was a canvas covered with a red liquid to look like blood (© Andrew McConnell / Greenpeace)
Once in position on the platform, they installed a 12 x 8-meter (39 x 26-foot) canvas on one side of the structure. The activists then hoisted a high-pressure hose to the top of the canvas at a height of 16 meters (52 feet) above sea level. They pumped 1,000 liters of a mixture of seawater, beetroot powder, and non-toxic, food-based pond dye onto the canvas to simulate blood. Greenpeace reports the artist Kapoor conceived the piece titled Butchered for this action.
The group highlights the action came as parts of the UK are in the fourth heatwave of the summer, which has triggered health alerts. They also highlight worsening droughts hitting farmers and their crops, and record-breaking wildfires. They note the climate events have not been limited to the UK, as Europe is also experiencing record-breaking temperatures and massive wildfires in Spain.
The group calls on the UK government to take action by placing new polluter taxes on oil and gas companies. They suggest a tax on fossil fuel extraction and taxes on shareholders in fossil fuel firms.
The group has frequently targeted Shell. In 2023, four protestors climbed aboard a Shell platform that was being transported to the North Sea and unfurled banners. Shell sued and settled with Greenpeace in December 2024 in an agreement that included a Greenpeace donation of £300,000 ($383,000) to the RNLI, a charity that provides lifeboat search and rescue, lifeguards, water safety education, and flood rescue around the UK. In addition, Greenpeace defendants agreed not to travel within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of three Shell sites in the North Sea for five years and another site for 10 years. Greenpeace boarded another Shell site in 2015 and has staged protests at the company’s refineries.