Fossil fuel giant Shell was in for a fright on the morning of its third quarter profits announcements. Activists in full Halloween costume swarmed outside the oil and gas major’s London HQ to highlight how Shell’s vampiric profiteering is killing people and the planet.
Shell profits: another terrifying quarter
On Thursday 31 October, Shell announced another horrifying haul from its climate-wrecking oil and gas operations.
It made $6bn in profits for the third quarter of 2024, 12% higher than industry analyst forecasts had predicted. Shell’s shareholders were in for another treat. It forked out $5.7bn to them for this quarter. This included $3.5bn in share buybacks. This makes it the twelfth consecutive quarter it has given buybacks exceeding $3bn – so shareholders have continued to secure an ever greater stake in Shell’s gargantuan profits.
However, Shell’s shareholder dividends are driving the hellish impacts of the climate crisis. So, it was apt the ghoulish fossil fuel giant announced these killer profits on Halloween morning.
Activists from Fossil Free London turned up to highlight the grisly cost of its environmentally destructive business operations.
Shell’s blood-sucking fossil fuel business
Vampires, ghost, and ghouls gathered outside Shell’s headquarters in London on 31 October:
BREAKING: Shell just announced they made £4.6BN in just the last 3 months.
We’re outside Shell’s HQ, on their profits day, as part of #MakePollutersPay week of action, to demand Shell pay up for the devastation they’ve caused.
Shell, stop sucking the life out of us
pic.twitter.com/0akwEgQ1F2
— Fossil Free London (@fossilfreeLDN) October 31, 2024
They brandished placards reading “Shell sucks” and “Make polluters pay for loss & damage”:
An activist in grim reaper garb held up a sign declaring: “Shell – a real life horror story”. Dracula made an appearance too, to call out how Shell’s “bloodsucking profits kill”:
One activist donned a Shell logo-shaped mask, with devil horns protruding from it, a hat-tip to an anti-fossil fuel favourite chant “go to hell, Shell”:
They underscored that if there’s one thing the fossil fuel major is good at, it’s sucking the life out of communities and the planet.
In particular, the group of spooky activists drew attention to the devastating floods in Spain that have killed over 200 people in the Valencia region. Driving the link between the horrifying environmental disaster and climate crisis home, one placard read:
Spain drowns, Shell ca$he$ in
The scariest part of Shell profits is the climate destruction
The protest over Shell profits was part of a week-long ‘Make Polluters Pay‘ week of action.
Throughout, activists have been calling on the UK government to make polluters like Shell pay up for the destruction they’ve caused.
Specifically, activists outside Shell HQ demanded that the company pay up for:
- The devastation they’ve caused communities by their oil extraction and operations.
- The climate crisis they’ve caused.
- Funding a rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels.
Fossil Free London spokesperson Joanna Warrington said:
Despite our Halloween costumes we are gathering today to say we are seriously scared of the destruction Shell is causing.
From the communities in the Niger Delta whose water has been poisoned by Shell’s operations, to flash floods in Spain which are happening right now due to climate change, it’s time for Shell to pay up.
Feature and in-text images via Fossil Free London
This post was originally published on Canary.