The annual general meeting of UK fossil fuel supermajor BP has been upended in disquiet today by climate and Palestine protesters, some of whom were arrested.
Videos shared by climate action group Fossil Free London showed four protesters being forcibly removed from the company’s meeting, which is being held today at its International Centre for Business and Technology in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.
The protesters were demanding an end to oil and gas extraction and claimed that the company was “profiteering from genocide”.
Fossil Free London representatives said they were then given no opportunity leave the premises and were arrested by Surrey Police.
Fossil Free London protesters said they were arrested after disrupting BP’s AGM today.
This comes after more than six months of conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip, following the October 7 attacks last year. More than 30,000 Palestinians have so far been killed, while more than 120 Israeli hostages remain in captivity.
Joanna Warrington, a spokesperson for Fossil Free London which organised the disruption, said: “Shareholders should be hiding their bloody hands in shame today, not lifting them to vote for more ecocide and genocide.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by military scale security at the BP AGM when their business and profits are going towards financing war in Gaza.
“There’s a pipeline that BP is the main operator of that supplies oil to Israeli fighter jets, meanwhile they explore for more deadly fossil fuels off the coast of the occupied land and they are breaking international law but we get the penalty.”
Disruption of meetings of the oil and gas industry has been ratcheting up in recent years.
Last month, Palestine supporters stormed the stage at London’s International Energy Week Conference during a panel with BP representatives.
In February, the fossil fuel titan reported a 49.6 per cent fall from its bumper 2022 profits of $27.6bn (£22.1bn) to $13.86bn (£11.8bn) as oil and gas prices cooled and refining profit margins thinned.
The firm, which is due to report first quarter results for 2024 next week, also committed to a $3.5bn (£2.8bn) buyback through the first six months of next year, with a plan to deliver as much as $14bn (£11.2bn) by the end of the next financial year.
BP and Surrey Police has been contacted for comment.