Since signing the Paris Agreement, the UK government has provided £14 billion of public money in subsidies to the UK oil and gas industry - £10 billion of this in the form of preferential tax breaks and £4 billion in direct payments to oil and gas companies. Now the UK government is being taken to court over the billions of pounds it has spent subsidising the oil and gas industry.
Paid To Pollute, the case challenging this use of public money for oil and gas companies, is due to be heard in court on December 8th and 9th, just weeks after world leaders, including the UK, affirmed the target of limiting climate change to 1.5°C in the Glasgow Climate Pact and committed to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. The UK cannot address the climate crisis while it continues to spend hundreds of millions each year subsidising oil and gas extraction.
On the week starting December 6th, the #PaidToPollute claimants and supporters from across the country will gather for a series of events and rallies culminating with the case being heard in the High Court on December 8th and 9th.
Here’s what we have planned and how you can help:
The Case Against Public Money for Oil & Gas: An Evening With Paid To Pollute
7pm, December 6th, Peckam Riviera, London, SE15 4QN
On December 6th, we're hosting an in-person and livestreamed panel event with the three claimants in the case and two supporting organisations. We’ll discuss each claimant's motivations for taking the case forward, what we hope to achieve and ways that you can get involved right now in groups fighting new fossil fuel extraction and building the real solutions that will get us out of the climate crisis. More info here.
Paid To Pollute Public Rally
1pm, December 7th, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ
The day before the Paid To Pollute case heads to the High Court, we’re hosting a rally in central London with speakers from the case, other climate activists fighting big polluters and those leading campaigns for a just transition. The event can be found here
Paid To Pollute In The High Court
9am, December 8th, Royal Courts of Justice, London, WC2A 2LL
The morning the case starts, we’ll gather outside the courts to cheer on and share messages of support ahead of the two days of the hearing. The court demo event can be found here.
Others Ways You Can Support The Case And The Claimants
If you can't support the case in person, there are many ways you can support the claimants and the case against public money for oil and gas from afar. Here are the top three:
- Sign the petition.
- Download a #PaidToPollute poster, put it up in your window or take a photo fo you holding it and upload to social media tagging @PaidToPollute
- Become a supporting organisation, email us to find out how at info@paidtopollute.org
- Donate to support the case
We'll have more ways you can support the case online next week. Check this page for updates.