Greenpeace Launches Musical Protest Against Shell’s Arctic Drilling  

Forget picket lines, brash chants and signed petitions. Greenpeace is taking a brand new tactic when it comes to protesting Shell’s Arctic drilling expeditions, and it’s quite literally music to the ears. In a bid to combat the proposed rigs by touching the hearts of everyday people, the independent global campaigning organisation commissioned a string group to perform the purpose composed ‘Requiem for Arctic Ice’ outside Shell’s London HQ.

Anna Jones, an activist involved in the musical protest said, “People are moved by different things. Some people are moved by words and some people are moved by music. It makes people stop and think for a while. It touches their hearts as well as their minds.”

Hearts, minds, music and oil

Throughout the performance activists handed out copies of the rendition to encourage passers-by to take action against plans to drill for oil under Arctic ice caps. As Shell staff turned up for work on Monday morning, they too were showered with the sweet sounds of the Arctic requiem performed by a professional string orchestra. The requiem was made up of four movements, each written especially for the Greenpeace protest. In a stroke of genius, the concept was inspired by the Titanic’s string quartet which famously continued to serenade passengers as the ship descended into the icy depths of the North Atlantic.

Mel Evans, the protest’s artistic director says, “This protest is about reaching into the hearts of Shell employees, and asking them to help Shell avert disaster.” With upcoming climate talks on the horizon, Evans stresses that now is the time to “send the strongest possible message to Shell that Arctic drilling is a no-go area.”

The protest will continue throughout the month of August, with performances staggered to reach as many Shell employees, passers-by and sightseers as possible.

Shell refuses to back down

Already, Shell has invested billions into the Arctic drilling venture, with a fleet of oil exploration vessels currently primed to deploy any moment. Activists, environmentalists and scientists alike fear that Shell has seriously underestimated the risks of Arctic drilling and the devastating impact it could have on the fragile ecosystem. There are also grave concerns that unlocking Arctic reserves would crush the world’s plan of limiting global warning to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels.

While not everyone likes Shell’s take on global warming, it is categorically one of the biggest oil and gas entities on the planet. ‘The World’s Largest Gas to Liquids Facility Runs on LIMS’ looks at the goliath gas to liquids facility it established in 2006 in conjunction with Qatar Petroleum. It also looks at how the facility turned to a laboratory information management system (LIMS) in a bid to enhance the integrity of the brand, the safety of its workers and the profitability of the enterprise as a whole.