Yesterday lunchtime, protesters from XR’s offshoot #Cut The Ties gathered outside the London office of BP with ‘Wanted’ banners that featured CEO Murray Auchincloss. They were highlighting the corporations shocking turnaround, announced in February, soon after the Elliot Management hedge fund bought 5% of BP’s shares.
Elliott is an activist hedge fund pushing hard for short-term profits for its investors rather than any longer term environmental goals. A substantial portion of its holdings are in the energy sector, with huge shares in companies such as Hess, Centrepoint Energy, Noble Energy, and BP.
The fund manages endowment money for several major US universities. Hedge funds often influence higher education through donations and board roles, and Elliott manager Paul Singer has given nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the ‘Copenhagen Consensus Centre’, a climate denying ‘think-tank’, as well as personally helping fund several climate-sceptic politicians.
It’s no surprise then that shortly after Elliott became the third largest shareholder at BP with a stake worth nearly four billion, the company announced its intention to cut its renewables targets by 70% and increase oil and gas investment by 20%.
Singer’s influence goes beyond BP. He persuaded German utility RWE AG to scale back renewables and has similarly pressured both Shell and TotalEnergies by betting huge amounts that their stocks would fall in value (“shorting”).
Outside BP’s office yesterday, a loud samba band drew attention to the performance outside, where BP figure poured fake oil on to ‘environmentalists’ and over an array of children’s shoes.
The protest attracted a wide age range, supported by XR Grandparents and Elders, as well as XR Families.
BP have for decades funded the Tufton Street Institute for Economic Affairs, the right-wing ‘think-tank’ that has aggressively lobbied government against net zero policies.
