Follow us on Twitter
Let's be friendsStudents tell DFID to clean up their act
This week, a group of students met with Under Secretary of State Gareth Thomas MP, to hand in petitions asking him to clean up DFID's act on funding fossil fuel projects. Outside the building, students used mops and buckets to try and 'clean' DFID of involvement in oil.
Trying to clean DFID of oil investments.
Gareth Thomas MP receives giant DDD petition
Outside DFID office in London
Chris Huhne MP listens to what P&P students have to say
Chris Huhne signs the Ditch Dirty Development petition
Student campaigners from People & Planet today went to hand in petitions to the Department for International Development (DFID) and met with Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Gareth Thomas MP. The petitions were part of People & Planet’s Ditch Dirty Development campaign, which aims to get DFID to end their use of development aid, ear-marked for poverty alleviation, to finance oil and gas extraction projects in developing countries.
Having met earlier in the day with Lib Dem environment spokesperson Chris Huhne MP to talk about the Lib Dem climate change policy paper “Zero Carbon Britain”, students later put their questions to Gareth Thomas MP. The students expressed concerns about DFID’s energy funding and climate change policy, particularly the lack of significant funding for renewable energy projects, which is dwarfed in comparison to funding for fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas.
Whilst they were inside, a second group of students performed street theatre outside the Head Office of DFID opposite Buckingham Palace in central London. The students brought mops and sponges and started “cleaning DFID of their dirty oil investments”, their banner reading “DFID: Conscience Soiled By Aid For Oil”.
‘Oil aid’ is one of the most glaring barriers to fighting climate change and addressing energy access in developing countries. People & Planet is one of over 200 organisations from 56 countries which recently released a statement calling on the World Bank to end subsidies to the oil industry. People & Planet is calling on the UK to lead the way towards truly sustainable low carbon development.
People & Planet spokesperson, Bronwen Thomas, said:
“UK Government statements are contradictory on tackling climate change. Whilst they claim to be cutting emissions, development aid, spent through the World Bank, is used to feed our addiction to fossil fuels and subsidise multinational oil companies. “
Lib Dem Shadow Environment Secretary Chris Huhne MP said:
“The UK must take the lead in tackling climate change. By working to establish an international leap-frog fund, we can facilitate the development of low carbon, efficient and renewable energy technology in developing countries”
People & Planet student member, David Amos, said:
“It is counter productive to use fossil fuel investment to achieve the reduction of global poverty. Oil extracted now is locking us into future emissions which will lead to an increase in the devastating effects of climate change.”
