From melting ice caps to deadly storms, the oil industry is fueling climate disaster. Yet oil companies still want to drill for every last drop and spend millions on lobbying governments to block climate action.

The People vs. Oil campaign started in 2018 with the need of keeping oil in the ground, holding big polluters accountable, and acting fast to embrace solutions to halve global emissions by 2030. But this movement didn’t start here, it was born in 2012 with the Save The Arctic project, to protect the pristine Arctic from a possible oil spill.

The Arctic 30

When the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise set sail to protest the first-ever oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, none of the people on board could have known what was coming. Seized at gunpoint by Russian special forces, the ‘Arctic 30’ were thrust into headlines all over the world, facing up to 15 years in prison and finding themselves at the centre of a bitter international dispute. A similar protest the previous year at the same oil platform had seen the Greenpeace activists walk away untouched. 

Arctic 30 Activists in St. Petersburg. © Dmitry Sharomov / Greenpeace
Group shot of 26 of the Arctic 30 (24 Greenpeace International activists and two freelance journalists) in St.Petersburg. The ‘Arctic 30’ (twenty-eight Greenpeace International activists, as well as a freelance photographer and a freelance videographer) face charges of piracy and hooliganism for a peaceful protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. Missing from the original 30 in the picture are:- Francesco Pisanu (France), Andrey Allakhverdov (Russia), Tomasz Dziemianczuk (Poland) and Ekaterina Zaspa (Russia).

This time, the events that unfolded sent shockwaves across the world. With the eyes of the world upon them, Russia charged the crew, from 18 different countries, with piracy and hooliganism. Their imprisonment, which saw worldwide media cast the Arctic 30 in the same mould as political prisoners like Pussy Riot and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, lasted months. However, their resolve to try and stop oil drilling in the Arctic was never broken.

The 30 men and women onboard the Arctic Sunrise ship known as the ‘Arctic 30’, spent two months in prison – after protesting peacefully to protect the Arctic from Gazprom plans to drill in the region – before being released.

Highlights from Save The Arctic

10 reasons why Arctic drilling is a really stupid idea

10 reasons why Arctic drilling is a really stupid idea

Starting with that it’s extremely dangerous. The Arctic environment is one of the harshest in the world, and everything you do there is more complicated than anywhere else.

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1000 artworks and counting for Arctic protection

1000 artworks and counting for Arctic protection

One day, Albert Einstein – that grey-haired master of imagination and thinker of all things outside the box – had something to say. “Creativity,” he mused, “is contagious. Pass it on.”

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3 big reasons why we need ocean sanctuaries now

3 big reasons why we need ocean sanctuaries now

Studies have shown that ocean sanctuaries, also known as “no-take” marine reserves, quadruple the biomass of animals and plants and also vastly increase their size.

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Highlights from People Vs Oil

This is The People vs. Arctic Oil

This is The People vs. Arctic Oil

As the Arctic melts, oil companies are moving in to drill for more oil. Next year, the Norwegian owned oil company Statoil will drill further north than ever – unless we stop them. An unprecedented case was filed this morning that could do just that.

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People vs Oil rise in 25+ cities to sound the alarm on the global climate emergency

People vs Oil rise in 25+ cities to sound the alarm on the global climate emergency

On 31 July, people in more than 25 cities are publicly holding the oil industry accountable for causing climate anxiety, climate breakdown, climate disaster, and climate emergency in communities around the world.

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How car companies are speeding us towards a climate crash (and what we can do to stop them)

How car companies are speeding us towards a climate crash (and what we can do to stop them)

Share on Whatsapp Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email It’s scary to think that while we are living in a climate emergency, CO2 emissions — a greenhouse gas driving global climate change — continues to rise each and every month.

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