On February 12th, 2025, there was a protest outside of Shell's HQ in the Philippines, where the Greenpeace activists want accountability from major polluters and justice for all the loss and damage that the oil companies had caused. Greenpeace is a global nonprofit organization that uses nonviolent protests and research to address environmental issues, their goal is to protect the Earth's ability to support life.It was a record breaking typhoon seasons, where six storms battered the country for a month and drove more than 650,000 people from their homes, according to the expererts they said these storms were "supercharged" by climate change and affected 13 million people, and changed the lives and costed them an estimated $500m.
During the protest, the protestors played sounds of children laughing, and people cooking or watching TV, which had been recorded in the Philippines, then quickly those noises were replaced with sirens like they used to warn people of floods. Afterwords they smashed the glass cases, allowing the "flood" waters to spill out in front of the building. During the protest they are blaming the oil and gas giants like Shell, who pocket tens of billions every year from them burning fossil fuels which drive climate chaos, and those gas giants are the ones to blames and pay their climate debts. Many youth leaders had come to the protest and are tired of their weather climate impact after climate impact, while the big industries are profiting from fueling the climate crisis, and continue to demand accountability from the major polluters and justice.
Now people living in the Philippines, are now awaiting for the next storm season to come in a few months, they are hoping that the world will take notice and the big oil companies take responsibility for what they are doing. Overall, it leaves the whole country confused on how they can get the oil companies to make amends since they are in the government, and are too power and rich, and now they hope the next typhoon will miss.
Overall Changes Of The Philippines Caused By Climate Change
The Philippines has changed a lot due to Climate Change, and now the people of the Philippines will now have to suffer, some of those affects is losses in GDP, changes in rainfall patterns, and distribution, droughts, threats to biodiversity and food security, sea level rise, public health risks, and endangerment of vulnerables groups such as women and indigenous people.
Greenpeace is a great example of peaceful protests being effective. Their strategy for helping people understand the severity of climate change is amazing. Thank you for covering this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really powerful read! The use of sound and visual symbolism during the protest was such a strong way to convey the devastating reality of climate disasters. It’s heartbreaking to see this.
ReplyDeleteIt is great seeing people standing up for themselves. Holding oil companies accountable and not ignoring what are doing is great.
ReplyDeleteIt takes an astounding amount of conviction and determination to travel that far from their devastated homes, right to the heart of the beast that sourced the carbon. These protestors have my admiration and support. I imagine many may react along the lines of 'It's a company thousands of miles away, you can't possibly blame them.' But the science of it all definitely can determine that Shell played a significant part in the Philippines destruction. I hope they gain more and more traction!
ReplyDeleteThis is devastating! Oil companies are playing with peoples lives like it is nothing, all for a check. I love to see them all banding together to stand up to the oil company. something i wish we could do here
ReplyDeleteThe sheer number of people affect is astounding. To put it in perspective the population of Detroit is around 630,000 people and Michigan as a whole sits just above 10 million. We've discussed a lot about climate migration in class lately so I am curious/concerned as to where that 650,000 people are going to go?
ReplyDeleteI cannot even picture 650,000 people. Like in Fire Weather, it is hard to imagine and understand what you have not seen for yourself. A lot of this climate migration will be a shock to those who have to accommodate thousands of people.
DeleteAs the country braces for future storm seasons, the call for justice and responsibility from oil companies underscores the growing frustration of communities suffering from the consequences of climate chaos.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that hurts the most is the idea that these people are preparing for the next disaster to come this was just one incident of many to come and the big oil companies will not pay for the damages that they have done instead they will fill their pockets with peoples misfortune.
ReplyDeleteThe photos you included greatly added to the message of the blog. I'm sure the children's voices on the audio followed by the sirens was also powerful.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time greenpeace activists have protested outside of shell, one of my first blog post covered a 2019 protest outside of shell in response to the typhoons they were experiencing. It is saddening that there is still need for protest 6 years later
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a protest format like this before. It is really interesting hearing about the different demonstration tactics used. In some ways the demonstration sounds like a funeral procession, akin to the mourning of the Earth protests we learned about.
ReplyDeleteI am so disheartened by the reality of the coming generations. I can only hope they can find childhood innocence, laughter, and peace while the world changes rapidly. I am glad there are people advocating for the most vulnerable, and demanding the large gas corporations take accountability, even if it seems impossible. I hope we take notes from the Philippines and put more pressure on our capitalistic and greedy oil founders.
ReplyDeleteHey Noah, powerful post! It’s sad to see people suffer while big oil profits. Do you think these protests will make a difference?
ReplyDeleteAs powerful as these protest strategies are, it sounds to me like these protests need to be a bit more difficult to ignore, if you catch my meaning.
ReplyDeleteThank you for covering this recent protest! I was not aware of this demonstration. It is inspiring to hear about other parts of the world fighting for justice. They are not alone!
ReplyDeleteThe detailed description of the protest and the broader consequences of climate change on the country make it a powerful call to action. Well done!
ReplyDeleteYour description of these protests suggests a powerful message with a emotional response that would be insane to ignore. It is devastating that these families and lives had to go through these extreme events, but unless others get a taste for what is to come it will continue to be ignored. I hope more of these creative protests get more recognition since some day (hopefully) it could save lives.
ReplyDeleteWith climate change, tropical storms and natural disasters are only going to increase and occur more often with more destruction. The protesters and activists are so powerful and brave for risking all that they do for our environment.
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