2019-07-02 Extinction Rebellion: Carmen's Carbon Procession
76 images Created 2 Jul 2019
London, UK. 2 July, 2019. Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Art and Culture, including Fashion Action, take part in a silent procession accompanied by a drum beat between the offices of five major petroleum companies - Eni S.p.A., Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Saudi Aramco, Repsol S.A. and British Petroleum (BP) - in order to declare them as crime scenes as part of London Climate Action Week. Activists wore black, some with flashes of red, or paper forensic suits during the silent procession and took part in artistic cameos inspired by the opera Carmen in front of the offices of the petroleum companies, as well as attempting to deliver a letter and 'This Is Not A Drill' booklet to each of them. One of the purposes of the action was to highlight the locations of the rather, or completely, anonymous offices of the petroleum companies, all of which belong to the 13-member Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) and which continue to drill and explore for fossil fuels. Carmen was chosen as a theme for the protest procession because the Royal Opera House is currently hosting performances of Carmen sponsored by BP and some of the activists later took part in a die-in against BP sponsorship outside the Royal Opera House and a protest at the BP Big Screen in Trafalgar Square.
