Environmental Single Issue Activism
- A Real Threat to Business or Minor
Distraction?
Barrie Millett
Head of Business Resilience E.ON
Agenda
A personal journey
Differing tactics but same goals
Global issue
Sharing of tactics
Impacts on business
Understand and manage the issue collaboratively
Direct action protest now, what next!
Q&A
Diverse actions – one goal
SIA’s focus can and does evolve with broad
ranging groups targeting in different ways
Professional and well coordinated piracy
• Coal ship boarded in inshore waters
• Early morning well planned and executed
Detailed plan to close power station down
• Targeting of facility by 114 activists
• Well equipped to inflict damage
Well known charity events pulling in a different
demographic of protestor
• Oxfam organised event 800c people
• Another charity holds a funeral march
Major incident management – case study
Large scale protest requiring collaborative multi
agency working with flexible approach
Aligned strategic priorities
Multi agency incident command structure
deployed
•Estimated over 1000 protestors at event
•>18 attacks on the fence lines thwarted
•>18 running fence repairs undertaken
•Plant remained operationally available
Successfully managed
No - some police, employees and protestors
injured
Yes - protestors did not achieve their declared
objective – “to shut the station down”
A turning point in the UK
Great Climate Swoop
• Aggression never seen before at
UK Environmental protest
• Detailed planning to military
standard
• In-depth “target” acquisition and
recognisance
• Support from other non
environmental groups
• Direct targeting of a key
employee at home
Military style targeting and planning
Diverse targeting & tactics
A Global issue where activists share strategies
Today's social media enables instant sharing of
strategies and success
•Same tactics – some adapted to succeed where others
failed
•Some activist working globally
•Cross pollination of activists – supporting multiple
causes
•Starting to coordinate actions for greater impact
Successfully managing to hit organisations business
strategies
Noble Discoverer drill rig occupation 2012
Hire cost about $250,000 a day whilst ship was laid up
7 Activists climbed the drilling tower of the Noble Discoverer on
February 24, 2012 while it was moored in Port Taranaki.
All were arrested after a 77-hour occupation of the tower. An
eighth person was arrested on the first day of the operation.
The ship had been working off the Taranaki coast and was
preparing for the first stage of its trip to the Arctic.
Additionally they were ordered to pay a total of NZ$5210 in
reparation to the Port of Taranaki.
The court declined to entertain Shell's claims for damages
totalling about NZ$650,000 - “excessive and unjustified.”
Occupation of petrol station - by Occupy Oil
Petrol station lost £11,000 per
hour during the action
Customers filled their vehicles at
competitor petrol stations
Action seen as a success
Tactic continues to be used
regularly
Greenpeace action against supermarket
Targeted because of partnering
with Shell
Shell were being targeted
because of their oil drilling plans
in North Alaska
Protests at supermarkets
Social media campaign via
Twitter and Facebook
Heavy impact on reputation and
sales on the run up to Christmas
Fracking protest impact on share price
METGASCO admitted to investors for the
first time that community opposition to coal
seam gas was disrupting its operations.
•Statement to Australian Stock Exchange
said protest action caused delays in drilling
and also resulted in deferring one of its
planned core wells
•Share price fell almost 3% on the news
Greenpeace activists in costly GM protest
Activists broke into CSIRO and
destroyed a research crop of
genetically-modified wheat with
whipper-snippers
Commonwealth prosecutor said
the vandalism had a wide
impact on the CSIRO, delaying
the wheat trial by 12 months
Plane Stupid protest cripples airport
Stansted airport ground to a halt
after at least 54 protesters cut
through a security fence at 3am
50+ flights cancelled and many
others were delayed
Police arrested 57
The runway reopened just after 8am
Disruption to flights continued
throughout the day
Scores of passengers returned
home or to find hotels
Terminal clogged with thousands
trying to get information
No Dash For Gas movement and EDF action
21 activists close station for 8 days
Activist plead guilty
EDF announces £5m legal action
NDFG Social media campaign a
success
21 still to be sentenced
EDF drop legal action
Activists claim victory
Power of social media
EDF and No Dash For Gas
18 Feb = 5 mentions (2 days prior
to WB trial)
21 Feb = 1107 mentions (day after
trial)
Trial outcome is the theme the
volume is referenced to EDF legal
action against NDFG 21 activists
with worldwide support
Support for EDF to drop case
against WB21 reached 40k in 4
days up to 27 Feb with 20k sign up
in 24 hour period 26-27 Feb
Understand and manage issue as one “Global Team”
No country or company is immune – secondary and tertiary targeting
Focus on environmental issues for the foreseeable future
Trend indicates an upward curve in environmental direct action
Targeting of specific companies and their key relationships
Strong indications and evidence that varied groups linking up
Evidence that there is an increase Cyber attack strategy
But lets not forget other issues such as terrorism!
Domestic and International terrorism is still real and still a
threat – what if these groups hijack Single Issue Activism to
deliver their payloads!
Environmental Single Issue Activism
- A Real Threat to Business or Minor Distraction?