Environmental activists Greenpeace on Wednesday invaded the property of a oil refinery in Durban to demand clean energy.
The group, known for its high visibility protests, invaded the Koeberg nuclear power station two weeks ago.
In Durban, five activists gained access to a bridge spanning oil pipelines from the plant at Bluff, on the outskirts of the city.
Three climbed the 30-metre bridge and unfurled a banner which read ”Clean Energy Now,” Greenpeace said in a statement.
”The Earth Summit has failed to take action against dirty energy policies which are fuelling climate change,” said Paul Horsman from Greenpeace.
”Big business and polluting governments like the US have joined forces in Johannesburg once again to deny people the right to clean and safe energy. Even now in the last few hours of the conference they are also trying to undermine any attempts to make corporations
accountable for the devastation they bring — not just to the climate but also to local communities,” Horsman said.
The refinery is jointly operated by Shell and BP and is notorious for oil leaks and toxic air emissions that affect the nearby community of South Durban, environmentalists say.
”Poorly maintained pipes run right through the middle of the local communities. Neither company has accepted any responsibility for the poor health of local people nor have they made sufficient attempts to clean up the large scale pollution that has been
allowed to continue for forty years.
”The earth summit was on the brink of bringing corporations like Shell and BP to task, by making them accountable for the damage they do,” said Zeina Alhajj of Greenpeace.
”But in the dying moments of the conference even that hope has been being undermined. Once again governments are caving in and allowing company profits to dictate government policy,” said
Alhajj. – Sapa