Extinction Rebellion protested presence of multi-billion-pound fossil fuel company Sclumberger at Engineering and Technology careers fair.
Earlier this week, XRGU (Extinction Rebellion at Glasgow University) protested the presence of fossil-fuel servicing company Schlumberger at the Engineering and Technology Careers Fair. Schlumberger is the world’s largest offshore drilling company. XRGU’s demonstration was successful, with the Schlumberger representatives leaving after an hour of protesting.
XRGU arrived at the careers fair brandishing megaphones and signs on Wednesday. In a video posted to their social media, an XR member can be heard condemning the presence of “fossil fuel criminals”, and criticising Schlumberger profiting “£30bn a year from fossil fuels”. The group refused to stay silent as a company they described as “woefully complicit in this genocide and project of repeated extraction” tried to recruit students at the fair.
Last year, Schlumberger’s CEO, Olivier Le Peuch stated “I am proud of the actions we have taken to weave sustainability more deeply into our culture”. Schlumberger’s sustainability report states that their sustainability focus has three priorities: “Climate action, People and Nature”. Yet, Schlumberger remains the biggest offshore drilling contractor by revenue globally. In a statement on the group’s social media, XRGU said “we will not be complicit while our university allows a company which is actively involved in the destruction of the planet to promote themselves as a suitable career.” Last year, in ‘Glasgow Green: University of Glasgow’s response to the climate emergency’ the University had promised to place sustainability at the top of their agenda. They had marked an intention to build new partnerships with like-minded organisations as vital to the university’s climate change adaptation. XRGU found Schlumberger’s presence a further example of the university’s refusal to take the crisis seriously, in their words, there can be “no world changers on a dead planet!”
