Claire Coutinho and Jeremy Hunt were challenged by activists hidden in audience at sustainability event
Climate protesters disrupted the speeches of Tory MPs during a sustainability conference as they challenged the Tories over their climate credentials and links to the fossil fuel industry.
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and Tory MP Liam Fox were hounded over oil money donations during their speeches by protesters hidden in the audience of the Innovation Zero conference in London on Tuesday.
Around 20 activists took part in the action organised by the climate action group Stop Polluting Politics as they unfurled banners and stood on chairs in the audience, which was made up of hundreds of business leaders across the green economy, and challenged the Tory MPs.
Just moments into Hunt’s speech, protesters challenged the minister for taking £25,000 from a climate change sceptic’s company and for offering to work with Equinor to publicly promote the oil and gas industry. Protesters shouted “why are you taking money from oil companies” and “stop polluting politics” before they were dragged out by security.
Coutinho’s speech also met a disruptive start with six protesters calling out the minister for her role in approving the controversial Rosebank oil field and accepting a £2,000 donation from prominent climate denier Michael Hintze.
The activists publicly shamed the Tory MPs for taking oil money, accused the government of “pushing us into an unlivable future” and called to stop Rosebank, the biggest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea.
Tory MP Liam Fox who chaired the net zero summit got humiliated when a protester was clapped by the crowd after he stood on a chair, interrupted the speech and confronted the former Trade Secretary over Fox’s links to oil and gas money.
Fox was condemned for accepting £10,000 from a climate-denier and lobbying for Bahraini oil contracts on behalf of Petrofrac. One activist from the grassroots group Stop Polluting Politics asked, “am I the only person in the room who thinks this man should not be chairing a sustainability conference?” which was followed by some applause from the audience.
Sam Simons, spokesperson for Stop Polluting Politics said: “To avoid the threat of climate breakdown, our government must get the country off dirty oil and gas and onto clean, home-grown wind and solar power.
“But big oil companies are hijacking our politics in a desperate bid to protect their profits and slow down action on climate change.
“That’s why we challenged Jeremy Hunt, Claire Coutinho and Liam Fox, who’ve between them taken thousands of pounds from climate deniers while approving the climate-wrecking Rosebank oil field. We demand to know who’s side they’re on. Do they work for us, or for them?”
(Image credit: Stop Polluting Politics)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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