DOCSLIB.ORG

The Future We Want

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Future We Want Transnational Institute Authors: Hamza Hamouchene Niels Jongerius Inés McKechnie Charle Shaun Matsheza Katie Sandwell Lavinia Steinfort Josephine Valeske March 2021 COLOPHON The future we want Coordinating author Katie Sandwell Authors Hamza Hamouchene De Wittenstraat 25 1052 AK Amsterdam Niels Jongerius The Netherlands Inés McKechnie Charle tel: + 31 20 662 66 08 [email protected] Shaun Matsheza www.tni.org Lavinia Steinfort The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international research and advo- Josephine Valeske cacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable planet. For more than 40 years, Illustrations TNI has served as a unique nexus between social movements, engaged Gus Moystad scholars and policy makers. This document represents a collec- Design tive work by the authors, drawing on other work published by TNI and Kees de Klein co-published with allies. Different sections reflected the diverse viewpoints and perspectives of the authors involved. CONTENTS The future we want Introduction 5 Why Shell must fall 7 What is Shell? 8 Why do we need a future beyond Shell? 8 Why now? 9 A future beyond Shell 11 A future rooted in justice: 6 principles of just transition 12 History of just transition 13 Just transition depends on context 13 From headquarters in The Hague to gas extraction in Groningen 14 Energy poverty 14 Just transition is an anti-racist framework 14 Just transition is a class issue 16 Trade unions for energy democracy 17 Just transition is a gender justice issue: the future is feminist 17 Just transition is about more than just the climate 18 Sacrifice zones 19 Just transition is about democracy 19 From protecting investment to protecting resistance 20 Energy Democracy 20 The false promises of "green" energy 21 Universal access and social justice 21 Renewable, sustainable and local energy 21 Public and social ownership 21 Solutions at the scale of the problem 22 Fair pay and creation of green jobs 22 Democratic control and participation 22 The inspiring present 23 Production 24 Distribution 24 Integrated companies 24 Conclusion 26 Epilogue: A requiem for the future 28 INTRO The future we want DUCTION 5 INTRODUCTION The future we want From grassroots environmental movements to climate scientists, there is a growing consensus 1 Limits to Growth: Club of Rome that the time has come for an urgent transformation in how we relate to natural systems and Brundtland Commission: https:// 1 www.britannica.com/topic/ territories. The planet is at a tipping point and dramatic changes at many levels of society Brundtland-Report are needed to avoid catastrophic global heating. In 2019, a youth uprising led the fight for 2 our common future. In the Netherlands, activists from Code-Rood, Gastivists and CLuB The Shell Must Fall! campaign was launched at the Annual General launched their Shell Must Fall! Campaign, aiming to take down Shell, challenging the mul- Assembly of the company. In an 2 address to its shareholders and tinational at its ‘homeland’ headquarters. Momentum is building to re-think our societies, board, they stated: “we are here our economies, and our energy systems – making the future of fossil-fuel mega-companies a to announce that our coalition is determined to make you, Royal Dutch key battleground. Shell, fall, by any legal, political or economic means necessary." The Covid-19 pandemic which swept around the world in 2020 – and is far from https://youtu.be/T2S7F6Ln0vg being under control – has revealed in stark terms the crisis in our social systems and our 3 relation to the planet, from the habitat damage and agro-industrial food systems that have https://thenewpress.com/books/ monster-our-door; https://nyupress. 3 4 driven pandemics, to the deep inequalities that left millions of people acutely vulnerable, org/9781583675892/big-farms- 5 make-big-flu/; https://mronline. to the ‘crisis of care’ and the vast ‘unpaid debt’ of neoliberalism revealed in many countries org/2020/04/20/114206/; https:// www.tni.org/en/article/video- and communities. The pandemic has placed massive new burdens on people already strug- recording-recipe-for-disaster- gling with climate change, poverty, and exploitation. Death and long-term impairment from webinar-on-food-systems-inequality- and-covid-19; Covid-19 has been starkly disproportionate, with poor and racialised people and communi- 6 4 ties heavily affected. https://longreads.tni.org/covid- Many governments around the world have responded in authoritarian ways, seiz- capitalism-report; ing the opportunity to push through unpopular laws while resistance was criminalised in 5 https://www.transform-network. 7 the name of public health, and implementing intrusive measures that have stripped civil net/cs/webinars/detail/?tx_news_ pi1%5Bnews%5D=9071 ; https:// liberties, often without clear public health benefits. At the same time, suspicion of scientific focusweb.org/covid-19-exposes- twin-crises-of-neoliberalism-and- experts and public health bodies, and chronic underfunding of public health services, has authoritarianism-in-philippines/ resulted in delayed responses and endangered peoples’ lives. Finally, social support mecha- 6 nisms, if they exist at all, have often been weak, faltering, privatised, corrupt, or inaccessible https://www.thejakartapost.com/ news/2020/08/03/covid-19- to those who need them most. As a model for planetary change, the response to the pandem- crisis-erodes-womens-rights-in- indonesia-activists.html ; https:// ic has not been inspiring. www.statnews.com/2020/06/09/ At the same time, Covid-19 and the global response to it has unquestionably systemic-racism-black-health- disparities/ demonstrated the ability to make deep changes to economies, laws, public infrastructure, 7 and our private lives that would have seemed impossible in 2019. Grassroots and local re- e.g. https://mronline. org/2020/10/22/indonesias-return- sponses have revealed the strength, vision, and resilience of ordinary people even in times of to-an-authoritarian-developmental- great hardship. These responses highlight people’s creativity, passion and commitment in state/ ; https://focusweb.org/ covid-19-exposes-twin-crises-of- communities around the world, which can help us to envisage – and build – better futures. neoliberalism-and-authoritarianism- Realising this vision means confronting and radically transforming the profit-driven in-philippines/ fossil-fuel-dependent economies that shape contemporary society. To do this we must take on the mega-corporations that defend – and profit from – the extractivist, imperialist, capi- talist model. The Future Beyond Shell project is exploring some of the core ways and reasons to do this. The Future We Want puts forward alternatives, laying out a practical vision of systems that could meet everyone’s needs without trashing the planet. Other sections will ex- amine the obstacles in the path of achieving these alternatives, and the strategies activists are using to overcome them. 6 WHY SHELL The future we want MUST FALL WHY SHELL MUST FALL The future we want What is Shell? 8 The British–Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell is ‘a global group of energy and petro- https://www.shell.com/about-us.html 8 9 chemical companies’ with more than 80,000 employees in over 70 countries, headquar- https://fortune.com/global500/ tered in The Hague. It is one of the illustrious ‘Seven Sisters’ and in 2020 was the world’s 10 9 fifth largest company, and the largest based in Europe. It was formed in 1907 through the https://milieudefensie.nl/ klimaatzaakshell/veelgestelde- amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the Shell Transport and Trad- vragen#12--draagt-shell-echt- zoveel-bij-aan-klimaatverandering- ; ing Company Ltd. https://www.theguardian.com/ Shell has contributed massively to the current environmental crisis: it is respon- environment/2019/oct/09/revealed- 20-firms-third-carbon-emissions sible for 2% of the total global CO2 and methane emissions for the entire period between 10 11 1854 and 2018. It remains solidly in today’s top ten polluters from the fossil-fuel indus- https://www.theguardian.com/ 11 environment/2019/oct/09/revealed- try, spending millions on lobbying to block climate policies that might affect its profits 20-firms-third-carbon-emissions (see below).12 12 Shell is a major producer of oil and gas, producing more 1,001 million ‘barrels of https://www.theguardian.com/ 13 business/2019/mar/22/top-oil-firms- oil equivalent’ in 2019. But, as a ‘modern, diversified company’ it is also active in multi- spending-millions-lobbying-to-block-climate- change-policies-says-report ; https:// ple related industries. It seeks to integrate its supply chains both ‘vertically’ and ‘horizon- corporateeurope.org/en/future-according- tally’ in order to better control prices and extract profits. For instance, Shell Chemicals shell ; https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ entry/bp-shell-climate_n_5f6e3120c5b64 owns dozens of factories around the world, including Europe, that refine petroleum prod- deddeed6762 ; https://www.tni.org/files/ 14 publication-downloads/one_treaty_to_ ucts and by-products into motor oils, industrial lubricants and plastics. Chemical refin- ruled_them_all.pdf eries boost oil companies’ profitability, even if oil prices are low or falling, or as consumers 13 shift to less polluting forms of transport or consumption. https://reports.shell.com/annual- report/2019/strategic-report/ For decades, fossil-fuel companies publicly denied or downplayed climate and segments/upstream.php environmental risks linked to their products, while internally they planned to protect their 14 15 https://www.shell.com/business- profits in the face of climate change. Today, as the realities of the climate catastrophe are customers/chemicals/manufacturing- undeniable, Shell now paints itself as a key actor in a sustainable future. In its ‘powering locations.html progress’ strategy, announced in 2021, it declares its intention to reach net-zero emissions 15 16 https://www.theguardian.com/ by 2050, while remaining a major player in global energy.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • PLAYING the SHELL GAME FOUR WAYS SHELL IMPEDES the JUST TRANSITION Rhodante Ahlers & Ilona Hartlief Contributing Authors
    STILL PLAYING THE SHELL GAME FOUR WAYS SHELL IMPEDES THE JUST TRANSITION Rhodante Ahlers & Ilona Hartlief Contributing authors: Selçuk Balamir Marten van den Berge Tomas Hidde Hoekstra Sara Murawski Ilham Rawoot Marie-Sol Reindl Daniel Ribeiro Femke Sleegers Jasper van Teeffelen Bart-Jaap Verbeek Stephanie Welvaart STILL PLAYING THE SHELL March 2021 GAME COLOPHON Still playing the Shell game Authors Rhodante Ahlers & Ilona Hartlief Sarphatistraat 30 1018 GL Amsterdam Contributing authors T: +31 (0)20 639 12 91 F: +31 (0)20 639 13 21 Selçuk Balamir (Code Rood) [email protected] Marten van den Berge (Decolonisation Network former Dutch East Indies) www.somo.nl SOMO investigates multinationals. Camiel Donice (SOMO) Independent, factual, critical and with Tomas Hidde Hoekstra (SOMO intern) a clear goal: a fair and sustainable world, in which public interests Sara Murawski (HandelAnders! Coalitie) outweigh corporate interests. We conduct action-oriented research to Ilham Rawoot (JA! Justiça Ambiental – Friends of the Earth Mozambique) expose the impact and unprecedent- ed power of multinationals. Cooper- Marie-Sol Reindl (Code Rood) ating with hundreds of organisations Daniel Ribeiro (JA! Justiça Ambiental – Friends of the Earth Mozambique) around the world, we ensure that our information arrives where it has the Femke Sleegers (Fossielvrije Reclame) most impact: from communities and courtrooms to civil society organi- Jasper van Teeffelen (SOMO) sations, media and politicians. This publication has been made possible Bart-Jaap Verbeek (SOMO) with funding from the Ministry of Stephanie Welvaart (Decolonisation Network former Dutch East Indies) Foreign Affairs. The content of the publication is the full responsibility And our friends who needed to stay anonymous.
    [Show full text]
  • Cabo Delgado
    STOP THE RAVAGING OF CABO DELGADO TO: (1) Total (2) ExxonMobil (3) Shell (4) Eni (5) Galp (6) HSBC (7) Standard Bank (8) United States International Development Finance Corporation and (9) Government of Mozambique CC: (1) United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, (2) United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, and (3) African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Working Group on Extractives, Environment and Human Rights) Date: 25 June 2020 (Mozambique 45th Independence Day) For responses, please e-mail or call: Justiça Ambiental, [email protected], +258 843106010, +258 823061275 Cabo Delgado is being ravaged. And it’s clear who is responsible. The gas industry is causing devastation in this northernmost province of Mozambique, with com- munities starving and landless, even before any gas has been extracted. The transnational fossil fuel corporations, contractors, private financiers, risk consultancies along with the government of Mozambique are turning the wheels of this industry. All are complicit. Transnational fossil fuel corporations boast of the ‘development’ and ‘upliftment’ the gas industry will bring to Mozambique. They talk about the 150 trillion cubic feet of gas that has been dis- covered and how they are looking for more. But the promises they have made to Cabo Delgado’s communities - providing employment for thousands, land compensation to continue farming and maintain livelihoods, better education and healthcare for the peoples through income the govern- ment receive - these promises have not been fulfilled and the impacts will far outstrip the benefits, present and future. Instead the province is sinking into ruin and the presence of transnational corporations is only detri- mental.
    [Show full text]
  • Banking on Climate Change 2020 Executive Summary
    CLIMATEBanking on CHANGE FOSSIL FUEL FINANCE REPORT 2020 The organizations authoring the latest edition of this annual report want to acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances of this moment, given the terrible impacts of COVID-19 on lives, health, and livelihoods for people around the world. As we write, the urgent need to respond to the pandemic and resultant economic impact is rightly taking priority, and may do so for some time. However, climate change remains an existential threat that, like the coronavirus, will require unprecedented global action in solidarity with those most vulnerable. We believe that the data and analysis in this report will prove useful in addressing that threat with the seriousness that it deserves. — March 18, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 40 ARCTIC OIL & GAS 84 Executive Summary Appendices 4 41 Key Findings 84 Introduction Top Fossil Fuel Expansion Companies 8 Banking on Fossil Fuels League Table 42 Banking on Arctic Oil and Gas League Table 87 Fossil Fuel Expansion Policy Scoring Criteria 10 Key Findings 44 Arctic Oil and Gas Policy Scores 88 Top Tar Sands Companies 16 MAP: Case Studies 89 Tar Sands Policy Scoring Criteria 16 Tar Sands: Line 3 Pipeline 46 OFFSHORE OIL & GAS 90 Top Arctic Oil and Gas Companies 16 Tar Sands: Teck’s Frontier Mine 47 Key Findings 91 Arctic Oil and Gas Policy Scoring Criteria 16 Arctic: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 48 Banking on Offshore Oil and Gas League Table 92 Top Offshore Oil and Gas Companies 16 Offshore: Guyana 50 Offshore Oil and Gas Policy Scores 93 Offshore Oil and
    [Show full text]
  • Shell Must Fall - Decentralized Actions Toolkit *Join Us on the 19Th of May – the Day of Shell's AGM - from Anywhere in the World*
    Shell Must Fall - Decentralized Actions Toolkit *Join us on the 19th of May – the day of Shell's AGM - from anywhere in the world* Join Shell Must Fall!, in taking action for climate justice; for transformative, people-centred solutions to the climate crisis and the corona crisis that center the most marginalized and resist corporate bailouts. On the 19th of May, the Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell will have its Annual Shareholders‘ Meeting (AGM) at Shell‘s HQ in The Hague. Last year, when we announced that we were seeing the last Shell AGM ever, we could not have imagined where we stand today. Due to the corona situation, there will only be 2 shareholders present at this year’s AGM. Shell claims that ‘safety’ is their highest priority, yet we all know their whole operation is unsafe. We cannot accept Shell to continue business-as-usual and adding more climate crises, human rights crises and environmental destruction to the crises we are already experiencing. The only solution is the dismantling of Shell. Therefore, we will gather at the site of Shell's AGM in The Hague, taking care and following safety precautions and we call on everyone to take action in their own town/home. Join us in demanding democratic control over the dismantling of Shell by taking action wherever you are! When? On the 19th of May; How? We make sure we adhere to the necessary safety precautions related to the coronavirus, such as keeping 1.5 meter distance from others at all times, and following proper hygiene procedures.
    [Show full text]
  • Fossil Free Culture Nl 2018
    FOSSIL FREE CULTURE NL ANNUAL REPORT Portfolio 2018 1 We established the Fossil Free Culture pleased to observe that the news was We are very excited about our next art FOREWORD NL Foundation in December 2017. covered not only by the general press campaign #FossilFreeMuseumplein, Becoming a legal entity provided but by the specialised art press as well, calling for a fossil-free Museum Square accountability for our undertakings mobilising the arts and art communi- by 2020 in the heart of the city of and allowed us to secure the funds that ties. The media attention contributed Amsterdam, the Dutch capital city. We enabled us to scale up our activities in to firmly cementing the term ‘artwash- delivered a pre-announcement perfor- 2018. That makes the report that is ing’ in the public consciousness while mance at the beginning of this year to now before you our very first annual invigorating the debate on the unethical let them know that we are coming. report. nature of fossil fuel sponsorship of the cultural sector. The number of cultural The successes of 2018 have given rise And what a year it has been… institutions accepting the ill-gained to a vigorous, vibrant, and resilient profits from the ecocidal fossil fuel Fossil Free Culture community in the In the summer of 2018, following our industry is increasingly declining. Netherlands, with many artists and cul- two-year art campaign #DropShell, the tural institutions joining in the fight for Van Gogh Museum ended its sponsor- We can safely say that the cultural pillar climate justice.
    [Show full text]
  • From 'Not in My Backyard' to 'Not on My Planet'
    From ‘not in my backyard’ to ‘not on my planet’ The potential of Blockadia for the climate justice movement: a case study of fossil fuel resistance in Groningen, the Netherlands. Master of Science in Human Ecology: Culture, Power and Sustainability Human Ecology Division Department of Human Geography Faculty of Social Sciences Lund University Author: Meike Vedder Supervisor: Andreas Malm Term: Spring Term 2019 Abstract This thesis explores the potential of Blockadia resistance, the resistance of frontline communities against fossil fuel extraction, for the climate justice movement. Driven by the need for alternative forms of climate action that address the root causes of climate change, this study examines if local fossil fuel resistance gives rise to a justice based environmentalism. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a case study of resistance against the extraction of natural gas in Groningen, the Netherlands. The findings of this case study show that there is no linear relation between lived experience of the direct consequences of fossil fuel extraction and climate justice action. Lived experience itself is neither a necessary condition, nor an automatic catalyst of climate action. Different barriers can prevent local fossil fuel resistance from transcending ‘Not In My Backyard’ concerns, and being a driver of climate justice. By identifying these barriers and uncovering how they have come into existence and function within the context of Groningen, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relation between local and global fossil fuel resistance. By embedding these findings in political ecology literature and social movement studies, gaps in literature are uncovered, and more insight is added into mechanisms that prevent or induce climate justice action.
    [Show full text]
  • STILL PLAYING the SHELL GAME FOUR WAYS SHELL IMPEDES the JUST TRANSITION Rhodante Ahlers & Ilona Hartlief Contributing Authors
    STILL PLAYING THE SHELL GAME FOUR WAYS SHELL IMPEDES THE JUST TRANSITION Rhodante Ahlers & Ilona Hartlief Contributing authors: Selçuk Balamir Marten van den Berge Tomas Hidde Hoekstra Sara Murawski Ilham Rawoot Marie-Sol Reindl Daniel Ribeiro Femke Sleegers Jasper van Teeffelen Bart-Jaap Verbeek Stephanie Welvaart STILL PLAYING THE SHELL March 2021 GAME COLOPHON Still playing the Shell game Authors Rhodante Ahlers & Ilona Hartlief Sarphatistraat 30 1018 GL Amsterdam Contributing authors T: +31 (0)20 639 12 91 F: +31 (0)20 639 13 21 Selçuk Balamir (Code Rood) [email protected] www.somo.nl Marten van den Berge (Decolonisation Network former Dutch East Indies) (SOMO) SOMO investigates multinationals. Camiel Donice Independent, factual, critical and with Tomas Hidde Hoekstra (SOMO intern) a clear goal: a fair and sustainable world, in which public interests Sara Murawski (HandelAnders! Coalitie) outweigh corporate interests. We conduct action-oriented research to Ilham Rawoot (JA! Justiça Ambiental – Friends of the Earth Mozambique) expose the impact and unprecedent- (Code Rood) ed power of multinationals. Cooper- Marie-Sol Reindl ating with hundreds of organisations Daniel Ribeiro (JA! Justiça Ambiental – Friends of the Earth Mozambique) around the world, we ensure that our information arrives where it has the Femke Sleegers (Fossielvrije Reclame) most impact: from communities and courtrooms to civil society organi- Jasper van Teeffelen (SOMO) sations, media and politicians. This (SOMO) publication has been made possible Bart-Jaap Verbeek with funding from the Ministry of Stephanie Welvaart (Decolonisation Network former Dutch East Indies) Foreign Affairs. The content of the publication is the full responsibility And our friends who needed to stay anonymous.
    [Show full text]