Extinction Rebellion activists block entrance to BP oil terminal
Watch our report by ITV Meridian's Mary Stanley
Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked the entrance to BP's oil terminal in Hamble near Southampton.They say they are protesting against what they call 'greenwashing' by the fossil fuel industry.
Protesters have locked themselves to oil barrels at the entrances to the terminal whilst dozens more slow walk tankers arriving at the site.
What is greenwashing?
According to Cambridge Dictionary, 'greenwash' is when a company makes people believe it is doing more to protect the environment than it is.
Campaigners say that this protest is one of a number of actions taking place across the country in the run up to the G7 summit later this month in Cornwall.
More protests are expected in the run up to the critical COP26 international climate summit in Glasgow in November.
James Hill, Extinction Rebellion South East spokesman, said: “The G7 global north nations are continuing to squander the world’s carbon budget, knowing that the global south will suffer first.
"Enough foot dragging, enough greenwash, the world needs the rich polluting nations present at the G7 summit to take responsibility for their historic and future carbon emissions, to take radical action now and show ambition on fossil fuel phase out."
A spokesperson for BP said: "Road tanker traffic in and out of the Hamble terminal, operated by bp, is currently blocked by a demonstration. The terminal supplies fuel to service stations in the south of England that are operated by a wide variety of companies. Our priority is ensuring the safety of people and operations.
"BP supports the goals of Paris Agreement and our ambition is to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.
"To achieve this, our strategy will see us increase our spending on renewable energy ten-fold over this decade, to around $5 billion a year, and also reduce our oil and gas production by 40%.
"As examples of progress in this strategy, in the past six months we have entered offshore wind in both the US and the UK.
"We already operate the UK’s most-used electric vehicle charging network, bp pulse, and plan to more than double our chargers in the country over the next decade, including at our retail sites."