Science Museum former head gives Greenpeace Lego campaign '0 out of 10'
Chris Rapley rejects ‘simplistic’ campaign as unable to deliver real change, confirming his support for Shell’s sponsorship of a climate change exhibition at the London museum
Installations on climate change at the science museum, London, UKPhotograph: Alamy
Greenpeace is being too simplistic, hypocritical and deserves “0 out of 10” for its successful campaign to make Lego drop its partnership with Shell, according to the former director of London’s Science Museum who gave the go-ahead to the oil company’s sponsorship of a climate change exhibition at the museum.
Responding to the Lego announcement, Chris Rapley, former director of the museum, said: “It is all too easy to demonise the oil companies, but demanding this kind of disengagement is just too simplistic. It’s also hypocritical because we wouldn’t be able to live the lives we take for granted without the supply of energy these companies provide us.”
Chris Rapley at Science Museum, London, BritainPhotograph: Rex Features
Rapley, who stepped down as director in 2010, said: “It is scientists and engineers like these [at Shell], not the activists, who in the end will deliver the alternatives to fossil fuels and are turning companies like Shell from oil companies into energy companies.
“10 out of 10 to campaigners like Greenpeace for wanting to provoke change. 0 out of 10 for this campaign, in my opinion, which might attract headlines and make them feel good, but does not address the real issues and will not deliver the changes we all need.”
John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said in response: “10 out of 10 for Chris Rapley’s career as a scientist. 0 out of 10 for defending Shell’s Arctic drilling programme. Intentionally or not, he completely misrepresents the [Greenpeace Lego] campaign,” he said.
He added: “Most people understand how these corporate tie-ins work, that’s why we won this campaign. Chris’s relationship with Shell appears to have blinded him to reality.”
Sauven said that other companies associated with Shell were now in the firing line.
“Shell’s tendrils reach into many aspects of popular culture. We know Shell has tie-ups in the arts, with our museums, with major sporting events and with popular public-facing commercial brands like Costa and Waitrose.
“This isn’t by coincidence. All these brands bring Shell respectability. They help Shell appear uncontroversial. It’s yet another way that Shell lobbies to maintain its powerful hold on our fossil fuel energy systems.”
He added Lego’s announcement should be “a warning to Shell’s other tie-ups”, but the green group did not say what brands it would be targeting next.
Asked whether the Science Museum would be reviewing its sponsorship with Shell in light of the Lego news, a spokesman said: “External partnerships are vital to the Science Museum, both in enabling us to remain free to millions of visitors each year and in allowing us to curate ground-breaking temporary exhibitions. We’re grateful for support from a broad range of organisations, including Shell.”
He added that the Shell-sponsored climate exhibition “supports our belief that civil society, industry and governments need to collaborate to build a cleaner energy future.”
Rapley also defended the Shell deal, telling the Guardian: “I stand firm on the decision to accept Shell sponsorship for ‘atmosphere’. The agreement we signed made absolutely clear that the museum and its expert team retained total editorial control, and Shell not only respected this, but made very helpful inputs. I could not have wished for a more supportive engagement.”
A spokesman said: “Like all businesses, Waitrose is always looking for opportunities to find new ways to provide our customers with the products they want wherever they may be or may be travelling. At the same time, as a responsible business we always endeavour to minimise the impact of our operations on the environment, by reducing packaging waste, CO2 emissions and by responsibly sourcing our food.”
A spokeswoman for Costa Coffee, which has coffee machines and marketing materials at Shell petrol stations across the UK, said the company had no plans to review its relationship with Shell in light of Lego’s announcement.
Greenpeace's protest against Shell recreated with Lego. Photograph: Jiri Rezac/Greenpeace
Lego is putting sales above its commitment to the environment by partnering with Shell, according to Greenpeace, which is launching a global campaign to force the world’s biggest toymaker to end a deal that puts the oil company’s logo on the famous bricks.
On Tuesday the environmental group will target the Danish company, which has distributed more than 16m Shell-branded toys via petrol stations in 26 countries, hoping to pressure it through “creative action” and mobilising the 5 million “Arctic supporters” it has signed up online.
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, the president and chief executive of Lego, which reported record profits earlier this year, has said: “as we expand globally, we are determined to leave a positive impact on society, and the planet that our children will inherit”.
Greenpeace claims that Shell, which has suffered repeated delays in its attempts to drill in Arctic waters off Alaska, is putting the polar region’s unique marine environment at risk and exacerbating global warming.
Ian Duff, Greenpeace’s Arctic campaign team leader, said: “Climate change is an incredible threat facing all children around the world, but Shell is trying to hijack the magic of Lego to hide its role. It is using Lego to clean up its image and divert attention from its dangerous plans to raid the pristine Arctic for oil. And it’s exploiting kids’ love of their toys to build lifelong loyalty it doesn’t deserve. It’s time for Lego to finally pull the plug on this deal.”
Toy blocks fall into bins at a Lego factory in Billund, Denmark. Photograph: David McLain/Corbis
Iris Worldwide, the advertising agency behind the 2012-14 partnership between Lego, Shell and Ferrari, estimated the deal’s PR value at $116m (£68m). A Shell spokesman said it had been “a very successful and productive relationship”. Lego and Shell would not comment on whether a new post-2014 deal was under discussion.
Lego has trumpeted its environmental credentials, recycling 90% of its waste and making its operations nearly one-third more energy efficient over five years. It has pledged to produce more renewable energy than the energy it uses by 2020, and is exploring an alternative raw material – currently crude oil – for its bricks.
Asked if its partnership with Shell was at odds with its CEO’s promise to leave a positive impact on the planet, a spokesman said: “We expect and are confident that Shell lives up to the legislation wherever they operate, including the Arctic, but we can only refer to Shell for comments on where and how Shell operates. We consider our biggest contribution in leaving a positive impact to be through inspiring and developing children as they experience the joy and learning opportunity that creative play provides.”
A Lego model of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise. Photograph: Greenpeace
Lego’s partnership with Shell dates back to the 1960s, and ran into the 1990s with Shell-branded Lego sets, before the toymaker switched to a fictional oil company called Octan, which went on to feature as the corporation headed by the villain President Business in The Lego Movie.
Greenpeace promised thousands of its activists would take part in the campaign on six continents. It is currently running adverts in Danish newspapers calling on Lego to end the deal.
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Ecologismo e religião. Uma oportunidade para se reencontrar com valores alternativos?
Religião vem de religar, de vincular os seres humanos com o seu entorno e, portanto, reconhece a interdependência dos seres uns com outros
A reportagem é publicada por Rebelión, 05-06-2014. A tradução é do Cepat.
Na atualidade, existem 10.000 religiões em nosso planeta. E quatro em cada cinco pessoas no mundo definem a si mesmas como religiosas. Neste número 125 da revista PAPELES, sobre relações ecossociais e mudança global, são analisadas as teologias que relacionam o ambiental e o social e tentam compreender como essa ética ecológica propiciou, em algumas ocasiões, certa ação social a esse respeito.
Segundo Santiago Álvarez, diretor de FUHEM Ecossocial, entidade que publica esta revista, a religião nunca abandonou o espaço público: “para o mal, porque serviu para naturalizar muitas das injustiças e desigualdades das principais estruturas de poder; para o bem, porque foi fonte de inspiração daqueles que lutam contra a opressão ao longo da história”.
Apoiando-se nos escritos de vários autores que já qualificavam o sistema capitalista como uma religião, Santiago Álvarezaponta, na Introdução, que seria mais adequado falar de idolatria porque no capitalismo o dinheiro e o capital se tornam ídolos. Finalmente, conclui que é preciso aproveitar o potencial das religiões para construir uma visão contra-hegemônica que vincule o humano e a natureza e que desmistifique os ídolos que dominam a atualidade.
Ecologismo e religião
Na parte Especial, intitulada “Ecologismo e religión”, são priorizados alguns artigos como “Ecosocialismo: espiritualidad y sostenibilidad”, escrito por Frei Betto, dominicano brasileiro, escritor e assessor dos movimentos sociais, e Michael Löwy, sociólogo franco-brasileiro, diretor de pesquisa emérito do CNRS.
Em seu artigo relembram Chico Mendes e a missionária Dorothy Stang, ambos assassinados por defender a Amazônia e os Povos da Mata. Em suas respectivas biografias, destaca-se a fé religiosa que cada um desenvolveu a sua maneira, mas sempre comprometidos com a causa dos oprimidos que, ao mesmo tempo, é a defesa da natureza.
Jesus proclamava uma “vida em plenitude”, assim como o princípio supremo da cidadania mundial é o direito de todas as pessoas à vida. Por isso, enquanto o livre mercado não for regulado e a burocracia centralizada, a economia continuará sem estar ao serviço das necessidades das pessoas e, portanto, o objetivo da vida plena não será viável.
As religiões: uma ferramenta para a sustentabilidade
Por sua parte, Gary Gardner, colaborador sênior do Worldwatch Institute, pergunta-se como envolver as religiões na construção de civilizações sustentáveis, aproveitando um recurso chave para influenciar em escala global: seu número de seguidores. As principais religiões – cristianismo, islamismo e hinduísmo – aglutinam dois terços da população mundial atual.
Muitos de seus ensinamentos religiosos têm a ver com a construção de economias sustentáveis: crítica ao consumismo, proibição do uso excessivo da terra, contrários à busca da riqueza como um fim em si mesmo, etc.
E destaca que ao passo que o ecologismo laico foi incapaz de apelar aos corações dos cidadãos para conscientizá-los, as religiões têm a capacidade de chegar ao fundo das pessoas e mobilizá-las. No entanto, o autor destaca que apesar da lógica do compromisso que desprendem, em muitas causas como a do consumismo, suas reivindicações foram mais esporádicas e retóricas do que fruto de uma ação prolongada e bem planejada.
A filósofa e teóloga Lucía Ramón Carbonell aborda, em seu artigo, o desencontro entre a teologia feminista e a teologia da libertação, pois esta última foi elaborada por varões e não contemplam a realidade das mulheres pobres, nem suas necessidades no relativo à saúde e sexualidade. Por isso, a partir das teologias feministas críticas com a libertação, concebem a necessidade de revisar o discurso patriarcal que justifica a exploração das mulheres e da Terra.
Ao longo da história, e ainda hoje, numerosos ativistas e intelectuais desenvolveram esta visão ética e espiritual de reconhecer a interdependência entre todos os seres vivos que habitam o planeta, e fizeram isso tanto a partir de uma concepção crente como laica.
Neste novo número, tenta-se traduzir a ideia de que é preciso uma mudança de paradigma, não apenas em questões técnicas, mas também no que se refere aos valores e a cosmovisão que imperam nas sociedades ocidentais. Como também não se trata de instrumentalizar as religiões para propiciar uma mudança ecossocial, mas, sim, de aprender das diferentes ecosofias que ao longo da história se dedicaram a vincular o ser humano com seu entorno e seus semelhantes.
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