This Is Not A Drill: New climate group launches three protests on Cambridge sites
A new climate protest group, This Is Not A Drill, announced its intention to disrupt ‘business as usual’ with three attacks on Cambridge buildings which left a trail of broken windows and black paint as part of a protest against fossil fuel-related research.
This Is Not A Drill says it has been set up because “the failure of governments and companies to make change following protests from groups like Extinction Rebellion shows that we have to take matters into our own hands”.
The group last week broke more than 10 windows at CASP (Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme) – which it says is funded by 11 fossil fuel companies – then threw black paint over Aveva’s front entrance on Madingley Road, stating the software company “enables 19 of the top 20 petroleum companies, over 300 refineries, most of the world’s petrochemical crackers, and 900k miles of oil and gas pipeline”.
The third action, carried out last night (July 14), saw the glass entrance to the BP Institute broken, with messages spray-painted messages on the buildings including ‘Stop automating oil + oil’ and ‘Cam Uni: Drop BP’.
The group issued a statement saying: “These protests are the group’s first, but probably won’t be their last.”
The group’s website states that ‘fossil fuel companies won’t be tolerated’ alongside a recent quote from António Guterres, secretary-general of the UN: ‘Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.’”
When asked why they decided to go beyond the now familiar tactics of road blocking and general disruption, a spokesperson said: “Fossil fuel companies are killing us. It’s upsetting and extremely worrying that Cambridge is full of them, especially the concentration aided and abetted by the University of Cambridge.
“They work hand in glove with these companies while they pretend to be following the climate science and taking action. They host Schlumberger, the world’s biggest offshore oil drilling company; Aveva, a software company automating the entire oil and gas industry; they have a BP Institute that still runs research into new fossil fuel extraction; and they have, hidden away and no longer showing up on their website or University map, CASP – a research facility funded by 11 global oil companies whose purpose is to locate new fossil fuel deposits for them so they can make even more money. Why have we tolerated these partnerships for so long?”
The group’s actions come as the UK braces for a record heat wave, possibly reaching 40°C for the first time ever. The Met Office has issued an amber warning that “illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy” as extreme heat is set to cover much of England and Wales from Sunday into Tuesday.
The Met Office says that UK temperatures are expected to reach 40C for the first two days of next week: this would beat the current all-time UK record of 38.7C, set in Cambridge in 2019. These trends match record-breaking heat seen in the last few days in the US, Europe, and China, once again demonstrating that heatwaves are increasing in their peak temperature and frequency as climate change is made worse by the extraction of fossil fuels.
“Across the Global South,” says the This Is Not A Drill website, “people have been dying for decades at the hands of oil and gas companies. If they have no problem killing people, we can legitimately dismantle and sabotage their research centres and prestigious university partnerships. It’s time for citizen-led fossil fuel non-proliferation. We hope the phenomenon spreads and fossil fuel companies suddenly find they have few places left to operate and fewer friends to help them.”
One of the main reasons the group cites for focusing on the University of Cambridge is the university’s alleged “misuse of its prestige and global reputation via its green image” and the fact that the university is “still working with a multitude of fossil fuel companies” which, despite their efforts to rebrand as sustainable entities, “still spend 96 per cent of their total capital expenditure on oil and gas extraction as of 2021”.
The Unversity of Cambridge and Aveva were approached for comment.
Cambridgeshire Police stated: “We are investigating reports of criminal damage to the CASP building on Madingley Road, Cambridge – namely nine windows being smashed – alleged to have taken place between 11pm on July 9 and 4am the following day.
“Anyone with information is urged to contact police via their web chat service quoting crime reference 35/49490/22. Anyone without internet access should call 101.”
In regard to the BP Institute action, the force said: “We are investigating reports of criminal damage at the BP campus on Madingley Road, Cambridge – namely damage to the door and graffiti on one wall of the building – alleged to have taken place between 11pm on July 14 and 6am today (July 15).
“Anyone with information is urged to contact police via their web chat service quoting crime reference 35/50380/22. Anyone without internet access should call 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”
