Campaigner outside Downing Street, where a letter signed by 8,000+ people was delivered to the Prime Minister, 1 December 2018. Photo: Carol Jefferson-Towner
Campaigners delivered a letter to Downing Street this afternoon, signed by more than 8,000 people, calling for an immediate halt on fracking in the UK.
The signatories, who include politicians, academics, community groups and residents in affected areas, also demanded a halt to coal bed methane activities and the use of acid to release oil and gas.
The letter said:
“Developing an unconventional oil and gas industry in the UK will result in unacceptable negative impacts on the environment, local communities, public health and the economy.
“The greenhouse gas emissions resulting from this new fossil fuel industry will also increase climate change at a time when the UK needs to be investing heavily in clean renewable energy and moving rapidly towards a low-carbon economy.”
The letter was delivered during a march and rally in London marking the start of the latest UN climate talks in Poland, which aim to decide the ‘rulebook’ for the Paris Climate Agreement.
Steve Mason, of the campaign network Frack Free United, with the 8,000+ signature petition, 1 December 2018. Photo: Frack Free United
The signatories comprised:
- 32 politicians
- 17 academics
- 20 non-governmental organisations
- 39 community groups from across the UK
- 13 Scottish community councils
- 18 international organisations
- 9 leading environmental campaigners
- 7,922 people in UK areas affected by unconventional oil and gas operations
Barry Gardiner MP calling for a ban on fracking in the UK, 1 December 2018. Photo: Frack Free United
Barry Gardiner MP, the shadow secretary of state for international trade, energy and climate change, supported the calls for a fracking ban:
“Action now could not be more important. … We know that rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented change is needed. Why does this government continue to support fracking? It is economically, environmentally and ethically wrong. We must ban fracking, invest in a low-carbon economy and create a net zero future.”
Sian Berry, co-leader of the Green Party, with the letter calling on the prime minister to ban fracking, 1 December 2018. Photo: Frack Free United
Sian Berry, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
“The UK must show political leadership by ditching climate wrecking policies like fracking and airport expansion, and committing to the bold and radical action we need to save the planet.”
Steve Mason from Frack Free United said:
“There is heavy opposition [to fracking] already, with only a few active sites in the UK. Thousands of communities are in the firing line. It’s time to halt fracking in the UK and secure our future energy strategy without impacting thousands of communities across the country and locking us to a fracked gas policy for years to come.”
Categories: Opposition
DRILL OR DROP? 
Barry talks about a decline in agricultural production. How will filling thousands of acres of our fields with intermittent forms of energy help that or our bees??? Also a big fan of carving up the Country for new rail lines?
On 23 Mar 2016: Barry Gardiner voted for the construction of the HS2 rail link from London to Birmingham.
On 28 Apr 2014: Barry Gardiner voted for a High Speed Rail link between London and the West Midlands.
As one of the posters has pointed out about Local Councils Investing in foreign fracking operations… Here you are just for you…
As we all know Greater Manchester Council invests
£989,047,680.30 in foreign fracking Operations
So please tell me how?
Click to access statement.pdf
Page 147 (8 of11)
9.
Socially responsible investment
9.1
GMPF holds a general policy of not
interfering in the day to day investment
decisions of its investment managers.
However, GMPF may choose to actively
invest in or disinvest from companies for
social, ethical or environmental reasons, so
long as that does not risk material financial
detriment to GMPF.
9.2
As a responsible investor, GMPF wishes to
promote corporate social responsibility,
good practice and improved company
performance amongst all companies in
which it invests.
9.3
GMPF endeavours to be a socially
responsible investor wherever possible but
does so within the duties placed upon it
under statute and under general trust law
principles to manage the Scheme in the best
financial interests of the Scheme members
and beneficiaries.
9.4
From time to time GMPF will pursue
certain specific issues direct with investee
companies, either individually or, more
usually, collectively with other institutional
investors via its membership of the
Local
Authority Pension Fund Forum
(LAPFF), its
membership of the
Institutional Investors
Group on Climate Change
(IIGCC), as a
signatory to the
UN Principles for Responsible
Investment
or by means of other ad-hoc
groupings.
9.5
Climate change is a key financially material
environmental risk. The Panel believe that,
over GMPF’s expected lifetime, climate
related risks and opportunities will be
financially material to the performance
of the investment portfolio. As such, the
Panel will consider climate change issues
across GMPF and specifically in areas such
as Strategic Asset Allocation, Investment
Strategy, Investment Manager Selection
and Risk Management with the aim of
minimising adverse financial impacts and
maximising the opportunities for long-term
economic returns on GMPF’s assets.
9.6
GMPF’s long-term goal is for 100% of assets
to be compatible with the net zero emissions
ambition by c2050 in line with the Paris
Agreement. The decarbonisation goal will
be regularly evaluated in line with our
objective of maintaining long term financial
performance.
9.7
GMPF has undertaken a number of initiatives
to enhance its approach to managing
this risk. Company engagement is a key
element of GMPF’s approach to climate
change. GMPF wishes to promote and
encourage compliance with its own UK
Environmental Investment Code. GMPF’s
appointed external securities managers
are encouraged to operate a policy of
constructive shareholder engagement with
companies. GMPF is a Tier 1 signatory of the
UK Stewardship Code.
9.8
By joining forces with over 70 other LGPS
funds within LAPFF, we collectively have
a very powerful voice in challenging
companies to disclose their business models,
and the assumptions that underpin their
investment decisions, leading to greater
capital discipline. This could have the dual
success of enhancing shareholder value,
whilst also reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
9.9
GMPF is a signatory to the Carbon Disclosure
Project (CDP) which seeks information from
major corporations world-wide on their
Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
9.10
GMPF is a member of the IIGCC which is a
forum for collaboration on climate change
for European investors. The IIGCC seeks
to promote a better understanding of the
implications of climate change amongst its
members and other institutional investors,
and to encourage companies and markets
in which its members invest to address any
material risks and opportunities to their
businesses associated with climate change
and a shift to a lower carbon economy.
So, Kishy has shown they are able to copy and paste, but has still not put the evidence that A Burnham is a fully aware of these so called ‘investments’, that these investments exist, or indeed, if he does, whether he is sitting back on his laurels and not doing something about it? Be careful Kishy; like all journalists, would be better to confirm your ‘story’ before publishing……
Kisheny certainly seems to be excitable for somebody posting at 3 in the morning 😂
To much time on his hands Refraction. Either that or call centre sock puppets are paid piece work and Kish is after a Christmas bonus.
Hi Sherwulfe and Crembrule, this hollow Kish tirade is just typical standard space filling scroll bait strategy isn’t it? Drown the subject in reams of irrelevant rhetoric because the real subject is too dangerous to be allowed to be discussed rationally.
Clearly they are getting very fractious and embarrassed to have Cuadrilla so compromised and heavily opposed by the public.
Desperation tactics that is all this is.
But we know that, don’t we boys and girls?
Oh yes we do!
Hi Refracktion too!
Of course there is also Theresa May who is up a creek without a paddle with the bottled brexit debacle falling around her ankles.
The much publicised “disagreement” with the DUP over borders and trade,
MP’s resigning around her every day and a tory revolt on her hands,
She doesn’t know whether to bend over for Michel Barnier and think of her future to preserve her post prime minister EU directorship in some EU overpaid commission?
Or stamp her little foot down on the necks of her revolting tory recidivists such as Anger Rubb and Michael Gove or Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.
The government vote support for any issue, such as the brexit debacle, the fracking debacle, support for the NHS and this country not being sold to Donald Trump for some miserable miserly trade deal debacle?
Also the hiding of reframed and crippled ecological EU regulations behind locked doors to favour their Big oil and Gas paymasters, and so, so many other issues is becoming more of an unknown and a potential disaster for Theresa May.
That is why there is all this anti anti Labour rhetoric at the moment, because these tory protagonists hope to hide all that utter chaos behind some personal attack on the opposition and all this kishy streams and reams of empty political invective and media bias are supposed to distract us from actually making up our own minds on anything to do with how these self serving idiots actually have any regard for the people they are supposed to represent and are paid to do so as little more than public servants.
I think its time for a vote on No Confidence and end this sorry mess once and for all before they manufacture more reams of empty rhetoric wool to pull over our eyes.
The target for overturning fracking in this country is not the operators. they are just profiteering exploiters with a Big Oil and Gas size 12 frackboot in the government boardroom door.
The source of the problem of the fracking debacle invasion is in compromised government itself, get rid of that and carry out a reset and then maybe we can return to some sort of sanity, but leave that rotting edifice in place, then it will always be twisted and tortured into their own agenda, and that has nothing to do with the counties well fare, it has to do with owning and selling the UK lock stock and two smoking barrels.
Its little more than muggers with governement sanctioned approval, who are no better if not a lot worse, themselves.
Sorry Phil has the Barry Gardiner and Chinese Nuclear article lit the fire in your reactor this Morning?
Well good morning ladles and jellyspoons, its the seventh fracked (not) Sunday on the 2nd of December 2018 and it seems that Cuadrilla are desperately trying to overturn their own agreed TLS to allow them to even remotely continue their efforts to kick start the invasion barges into some sort of forwards motion in this country?
As i said, there will be all hell to pay if they try that, we have already seen the usual suspect sock puppets desperately trying to justify that over the last few days. one even said that it is well known that fracking produces earthquakes?
Werent we castigated for even suggesting such a thing only a couple of months ago?
Screams of “fracking does NOT cause earthquakes” practically rang cracked bell like through the collective halls of Drill Or Drop, such was the fury of even daring to mention such a thing?
And now quietly it is all. “Oh of course fracking causes earthquakes but it is well below that of a truck running over a manhole in the road and causing ripples in a coffee cup!”
And now suddenly it is “the TLS was always just a “conservative” (interesting term?) estimate and “might” (will) be massaged to allow fracking to ignore any such restrictions”
Well, here we go again? more “reframing” and “Oh it will still be “gold standard regulations!” What a joke? Regulations must be hard set in stone and fixed and permanent.
Sliding the parameters up and down to give the operators yet another get out of jail free card to do what the hell they like is not regulations to any standard, its just hot air and yet more fake regulation smoke screens.
What happened to all those trucks running over manholes suddenly? That is called “reframing the question” my friends, that is the sliding scale of the slippery slope of gradual descent into no regulations at all, and that make a rats behind of any “real world” value of the regulations whatsoever.
So, lets think of something appropriate to say about all that today shall we? this is from Rudyard Kiplings poem “A Smugglre’s Song” slightly modified to suit the present fracking debacle:
———————–
Backyard Kripling
A Mugger’s Song
IF you wake at midnight, and feel the HGV’s shake,
Don’t go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,
Them that ask no questions isn’t told no lies.
Watch the wall my darling while the “Gentlemen” go by.
Five and twenty frackers,
Trolling through the dark –
Brandy for the Politician, ‘Fraccy for the Clark.
Disgraces for the lady; letters for a lie,
Watch the wall my darling while the “Gentlemen” go by.
Droning round the gas rigs if you chance to find
Little barrels, roped and tarred, all full of climate decline,
Don’t you shout to come and look, nor use ’em for your play.
Play the video back again – and they’ll be dumped in a stream next day.
If you see the boardroom-door a’ setting open wide;
If you see a tory politician falling for a bribe;
If your mother mends a hi vis yellow coat cut about and tore;
If his wallet’s wet and warm – don’t you ask no more !
If you meet Greg Clark’s men, dressed in black and yellow,
You be careful what you say, be mindful of that fellow.
If they call you “pretty mad” and chuck you in the clink,
Don’t you tell where no one is, nor yet where no one’s been !
Knocks and quake shakes under the house – diesels after dark –
You’ve no call for running out till the guard-dogs bark.
Fraccy’s here, and Driller’s here, and see how dumb they lie
They don’t fret to notice when the “Gentlemen” go by !
‘If You do as you’ve been told, ‘likely there’s a chance,
You’ll be give a stuffed full pocket, as an incentive for your bank to enhance,
With a Manila account in the Philippines, or a totty of wormwood –
A present from the “Gentlemen”, along ‘o being “good”!
Five and twenty frackers,
Trolling through the dark –
Brandy for the Politician, ‘Fraccy for the Clark.
Them that asks no questions are always told to lie –
Watch the wall my darling while the “Gentlemen” go by!
———————–
That was fun wasnt it? Well have a great seventh fracked (not) Sunday with family and friends and be careful of those traffic lights next week, what will you do when they all show green?
A recipe for disaster isnt it? Not that your health and safety are considered just so long as they get their profits out on the next jet?
[Typo corrected at poster’s request]
Hi Sherwulfe, yes, transparent as all get out isnt it?
HA! Ha! Bad Cop Bad Cop more like?
I see another alter ego is also trotted out too, i think i have a photo that applies to that particular avatar?
A masterpiece Phil!
Thanks Fifi, praise indeed!
Just thought, that line:
“You’ll be give a stuffed full pocket, as an incentive for your bank to enhance,”
Should have been
“You’ll be give a stuffed full pocket, as a deposit for your trip to France”
Shouldn’t it?
They seem to take it in turns Phil, or maybe they are just the same person? I love the two avatars, green and red; it’s like good cop bad cop…….
LOL and still chuckling 😄
Oh, sorry I forgot; you’re not interested in Local Councils foreign investment in fracking. It’s only your mission to stop the industry in the U.K…
You’re a Putin puppet crem…
Nope I am a concerned local, unlike you Kish who clearly is not what they make themselves out to be. Have a great day at work x
Finished work for the year, that’s why I have so much time to expose the anti rhetoric for the hypocrisy it is during this cold Winter nights…
Finished work for the year but you now appear to be operating like Arkwright. That’s of Open All Hours fame not the Spinning Jenny.
Drove past PNR on Friday, didn’t see you the local crem? 2 protestors sat in their shed showing what life is like living without Gas looking like “The Flintstones” wouldn’t surprise me if they were called Fred & Barney.
Thought about buying them the new Lego wind turbine for Xmas?
On second thoughts giving them a plastic toy of an intermittent renewable probably wouldn’t go down to well.
Read the reviews of the product: expensive for what it is, towers over my Lego town, not value for money, dead Lego batman at the base of it every morning, foreign import, not many U.K jobs created, Government subsidies meaning 9% of my energy bill pays even more for it and on top of all that when the wind doesn’t blow…….. Batteries not included…
https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Vestas-Wind-Turbine-10268?ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI3vf5tu2A3wIVi7TtCh05kwurEAAYASAAEgIGXPD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!933!3!313911330172!b!!g!!%2Bwind %2Bturbine %2Blego&cmp=KAC-INI-GOOGEU-GO-GB-EN-PS-BUY-SHOP-Creator-BP-BM-RN-Vestas_Wind_Turbine
You don’t seem interested in Local Councils £Billions invested in foreign Fracking operations???
[Comments removed by moderator]
Gawd, what a lot of pointless scrolling to get through (comments section)! If certain contributors could stick to the points in the DoD post that would help meaningful discussion. Kisheny, you need to get a grip on your [edited by moderator] diversionary tactics. Council investments represent issues of legacy not hypocrisy. It will take time to swing that ‘super-tanker’ around, but (as awareness and divestment concerns grow) far less time than it would take build up the new, intrusive and environmentally damaging push for fracked shale gas.
The main points in the OP were highlighted. Here are the first two (again) :
“Developing an unconventional oil and gas industry in the UK will result in unacceptable negative impacts on the environment, local communities, public health and the economy.”
“The greenhouse gas emissions resulting from this new fossil fuel industry will also increase climate change at a time when the UK needs to be investing heavily in clean renewable energy and moving rapidly towards a low-carbon economy.”
PS. to be fair (Kisheny) I enjoyed the Barry Gardiner clips. What a talented speaker! I hope Martin will take note – as major voicebox for the apathetic – about what can really be done to avert climate catastrophe.
Just surprised he was not too busy with the other 20k plus in Poland pontificating whilst Paris burns!
By the way, it takes less than 5 minutes to change investments, if acceptable alternatives are available. But shush, let’s not go there, because that is the problem isn’t it and we should not let anyone know. But they do PhilipP. Yes, it takes a lot longer-like never-to get pensioners and employees to accept lower pensions. But, shush, no one will recognise that.
Apathetic? Would that be an anti who trots along to PNR in his diesel BMW because someone else will not fund a vehicle change? Sort your own apathy out before you cast around for others to blame, without any knowledge. Or would it be even more apathetic that an anti would wrongly assume the ownership of a company and then criticise the corporate governance! DYOR, rather than guess.
Shame. You used to make your own points. Now, you seem to want to join in attempts to criticise others. Very interesting development, and quite revealing.
Fantastic work, everyone. Well done to Frack Free United for pulling this all together.
You can still sign the Frack Free Declaration by visiting their website: https://www.frackfreeunited.co.uk/
All they could muster is 8k? Christ I’ve got more followers on Instagram.
Leaves 60 million plus who did not sign the letter!
Seems majority are not that against fracking to have ignored signing the letter! Goodness, the majority just gets bigger and bigger.
Playing the apathy card again I see. The majority won’t have even seen the letter, but they will get concerned in hindsight when staring down both barrels of increasingly catastrophic, damaging and costly climate impacts.
I take it Phil you have written to your local Council to tell them to work to their own policy and pull out their £Millions from foreign fracking investment???
No???
If you keep playing the climate card you have to back it up. The old we don’t want fossil fuel because the Worlds gonna end but then again I am close to retirement so as long as my pension pays out, then cover your ears and say “la la la” I don’t know where it’s invested it’s in a fund I don’t pick the stocks someone else does that nothing to do with me, simply will not wash. And it definitely doesn’t wash for Local Councils which have clear guidelines on this and have regular revues…
Your position is very confusing Kisheny. You seem all over the place. Are you actually advocating divestment, and for a totally renewable energy future now? That’s a 180 degrees turnaround from your usual shale gas advocacy. Which is it? Please forget about demonizing others who you speculate on about hypocrisy or whatever. That achieves nothing and proves nothing. There’s a debate here worth having – at the very least to raise awareness. You pasted the relevant section from the GMPF (pdf) which shows their strategy for divestment, which is pretty clear, but did nothing to substantiate your claim about their £10 approx investment in ‘foreign fracking operations’. Even if true they would have to show a downward trend in those investments pretty substantially – by their own rule book.
Apathy? You mean 8000 signatures? How many for Boaty McBoatface??? A great deal more. Shows the apathy amongst the antis. I should find a new word that doesn’t simply expose your side of the debate. At least with Vegan activists you (usually) find they practice what they preach. Seems that is too difficult for most of the antis around fossil fuels.
Reference Boaty-“The literature suggests, however, that when the public are meaningfully engaged, they feel valued and provide more productive input.”
Hence the Tracking Survey, which shows already that TWO THIRDS are not against fracking, even before benefits are actually shown within the UK, and even when they have waited many years without that.
Concerned in hindsight? Like those in Paris? They were protesting against the cost of fuel being driven by alternative costs. Forget the 20k on another jolly in Poland (after Germany and previously France) and look outside of your own bubble.
The BBC finally gets real about climate change. They really should have been taking a lead with definitive documentaries on the subject and the science, starting many years ago. This is an outstanding matter of substance for the current debate, and for the letters in question here.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46398057
8000 divided by population number 66 000 000 gives 0.00012%
0.00012% of the population is not significant number
I wonder how many signed the cigarette paper in support?
0.0000000000000000000000000%recurring
Why sign anything in support of something that is authorised and happening (slowly).
Didn’t see many outside the footy stadiums asking for signatures to support the match that was starting inside. “For what purpose?” would have been the polite reply.
Sorry to bring the real world into the discussion.
how slow is stopped?