A team of 77 activists sets up a protest art installation – titled Breaking Point: Untold Stories of Climate Loss and Damage – around Shell’s London headquarters. The ‘exhibition’ which displays the once-cherished belongings of Filipino communities that were wrecked by climate-charged typhoons that have struck the Philippines aims to highlight how the oil and gas industry is fueling the climate crisis and intensifying extreme weather events that are destroying lives and livelihoods of ordinary people around the world. © Chris J Ratcliffe / Greenpeace
Three Filipino activists have joined a major climate change protest at the Shell global headquarters in London, United Kingdom. They joined Greenpeace activists from the UK and Europe in a performative art installation mounted in solidarity with Filipino communities affected by the worst effects of climate change. The protest art—titled Breaking Point: Untold Stories of Climate Loss and Damage[1]—was set up to surround Shell’s London headquarters.
The installation puts on display the once-cherished belongings of community members from San Mateo, Rizal, and Batasan Island in Tubigon, Bohol, and wrecked by climate-charged typhoons that have struck the Philippines.
Most of the display cases were flooded with water, partially submerging the items. The performance art protest culminated with the glass display cases being smashed by activists, allowing the ‘flood waters’ to spill out in front of the entrances of Shell’s office building. The activists then swept the broken glass into the doorways using ‘walis tambo.’
The activity represents a ramp up of calls for companies such as Shell to be held accountable, and for authorities to make them stop drilling and start paying for the damage they’ve been causing in the Philippines and around the world.
The fossil fuel industry, including Shell, already knew of the harms resulting from the extraction and use of their products since before the 1960s.[2] Despite this the company has produced ten times more Co2 than the Philippines since 1950, supercharging the climate crisis, and continuing to rake in profits. In 2024 alone they earned USD 23.7B, while communities affected by the worst effects of climate change face long-term hardship that is sustained and compounded over decades.
“For far too long communities like mine have weathered climate impact after climate impact, while companies like Shell continue to profit while fueling the climate crisis,” said Bon Gibalay of Bohol Province, representing the island’s climate-impacted communities as he joined the protest in the UK. “By delivering these precious possessions from the Philippines—damaged and destroyed by typhoons supercharged by the climate crisis—to Shell’s doorstep—we are demanding accountability from major polluters and justice for all the loss and damage they have caused.”
The Philippines experienced a record-breaking typhoon season[3] last year, with six consecutive storm systems battering the country in less than a month, bringing wind speeds of over 50 metres per second and intense rainfall, causing floods to sweep through the country.
The unprecedented number of typhoons, which according to experts were ‘supercharged’ by climate change[4], affected more than 13 million people, destroyed lives and livelihoods and were estimated to have cost nearly $500mn[5] in economic damages.
“Today, Filipino communities have brought their demands straight to Shell’s headquarters, calling on Shell to stop expansion and profiteering, and pay up for escalating loss and damage,” said Greenpeace Philippines Climate Campaigner, Jefferson Chua. “The impacts of climate change—fueled by the greed of fossil fuel companies—are bringing communities around the world to a breaking point as people face ever-increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather and rising sea levels. We are calling on the Philippine government to support these communities and lead the call for climate justice: demand an end to oil and gas expansion, and make companies like Shell pay their share of the costs of destruction caused by climate impacts.”
Shell continues to drill for new oil and gas and is fighting for fields like Jackdaw and Rosebank in the North Sea, despite the developments being ruled illegal by the courts. “It’s time they coughed up and paid their climate debts. Oil and gas giants, like Shell, who pocket tens of billions every year from burning fossil fuels that drive this climate chaos,” Greenpeace UK Climate Campaigner, Maja Darlington said. “Instead of allowing new planet-heating oil and gas fields with complete disregard for the devastation they are causing, the government should make fossil fuel companies, like Shell, stop drilling and start paying for the typhoons, floods, fires and droughts that they are fuelling around the world.”
“What we need to do now is to get the message further across and show them that the solutions are already here and that the vulnerable and affected communities are really trying to push for those solutions. It is time that we stand together to rally our governments and work together to stop the polluters from further destroying the planet and making them pay for the world’s transition to a much cleaner and healthier state,” Bon adds.
Greenpeace Philippines is calling on the Philippine government and the candidates in the upcoming election to implement bold new policies on oil and gas companies, such as the Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Bill, to hold climate polluters accountable and ensure big polluters like Shell are made to pay for the climate damages they are causing.
Notes to editor:
[2] In 2022, a landmark report based on the
Climate Change and Human Rights inquiry by the Philippines Commission on Human Rights set a solid legal basis for asserting that climate-destructive business activities by Shell and 45 other fossil fuel and cement companies contribute to human rights harms.
[4] [5]
Climate change supercharged late typhoon season in the Philippines, highlighting the need for resilience to consecutive events – World Weather AttributionPhotos:
The community of Batasan Island, Bohol—dubbed the “Sinking Island”—protests against climate injustice. They are among the communities that sent cherished objects, symbols of memory and resilience from the aftermath of Super Typhoon Odette (Rai), to Shell’s office in the UK. Through these symbolic actions, they demand that Shell stop ignoring their calls and acknowledge the destruction caused by its climate-destructive practices. © Ivan Joeseff Guiwanon / GreenpeaceIn one of the sinking islands in Tubigon, Bohol, community members return the show of solidarity with the UK protest. They hold up self-made banners in protest of the harmful business practices of Shell and other oil and gas companies, which exacerbate climate change. More photos of the Bohol community.
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