Construction Archives - Corporate Watch https://corporatewatch.org/category/construction/ Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:19:37 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://corporatewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-CWLogo1-32x32.png Construction Archives - Corporate Watch https://corporatewatch.org/category/construction/ 32 32 Tax-payer funded destruction: Activist reflections on HS2 https://corporatewatch.org/tax-payer-funded-destruction-activist-reflections-on-hs2/ Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:19:37 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=11856 A high court judge has granted a route-wide injunction preventing activists from challenging construction of the controversial HS2 train line. The scope of the injunction is unprecedented, blocking protesters from venturing anywhere near the proposed route. High Speed Two (HS2) is a 343-mile, high-speed cross-country railway line. HS2 would pick up from HS1, which connects […]

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A high court judge has granted a route-wide injunction preventing activists from challenging construction of the controversial HS2 train line. The scope of the injunction is unprecedented, blocking protesters from venturing anywhere near the proposed route.

High Speed Two (HS2) is a 343-mile, high-speed cross-country railway line. HS2 would pick up from HS1, which connects the Channel Tunnel to London, snaking to Leeds & Manchester via Birmingham. Plans for the project have been in the pipeline since 2009, and the final stages are not expected to be completed until 2040.

The initial budget for the work was £33 billion, but the expected cost has since spiralled to over £100 billion. The project is being overseen by High Speed Two Ltd, a state-owned company.

At the 2022 Earth First! gathering, Corporate Watch spoke to Liz and Nancy, two activists who’ve been challenging HS2 for several years; from living in camps on route, to taking direct action in tunnels and structures. We spoke to them about how this eco-defence movement stood up to corporate power and the impact of increasingly draconian government legislation on environmental protest.

“HS2 encompasses so many injustices”

Liz explained that the proposed route “goes through 108 Ancient woodlands, which are going to be decimated by the project. And it’s going to create – instead of a green corridor – a cement corridor all the way up the country… It’s splitting the country in half with this huge slab of concrete”.

“HS2 encompasses so many injustices,’ Nancy said ‘wherever you sit on the political spectrum or whatever issues you really care about”. 

Whether it’s ecological issues, or the social issues of people being displaced from their homes, and then being treated completely unfairly by the compulsory purchase scheme. And whether it’s the economic factors of building HS2 or, the way that governments are mandating these kinds of things and calling it ‘the political will of the people’.

Nancy and Liz said that in the early stages, local communities along the proposed route set up “really strong groups” to oppose HS2. But the government approved plans in 2017:

I think a lot of those people felt very disenfranchised. And about three and a half years ago the direct action campaign started with one woman called Sarah Green. She was at Greenham Common, and lives in Hillingdon, which is one of the first areas where they started building. It’s just outside of London in the Colne Valley, which is a really beautiful area. She had a business showing people around the canals – HS2 completely decimated that business, made it completely unviable, because people had come to see a beautiful area. And now all they were seeing was HS2.

So she started the direct action campaign by climbing under a digger and staying under there for, I think, a couple of days and then people started setting up roadside camps.

“Obstructing the destruction”

Shortly after this, activists “started setting up woodland camps” along the proposed route as opposition against HS2 grew in solidarity with local communities. In the summer of 2020, when the pandemic hit, resistance expanded further. Liz explained that lockdown:

Created a moment where a lot of people were suddenly either furloughed or not going to uni. There were no employment prospects – it created a space for people to go and try something new. That’s when I went to the camps. At that point, there were about seven camps along the line, all set up at different points that were strategically important to HS2, mainly because it was on the land that [the company] wanted, or that they needed to build the train line. 

That’s not a new tactic, protest camps have been going for quite a while. They have to send people in to remove people from the site, which isn’t so easy when there are activists 60 foot up in the trees, or underground in tunnels. So that was a big tactic – to occupy land – but the camps also created a space we could do outreach to involve the local community and sort of reinvigorate those groups creating a base from which people can do direct action, obstructing the destruction.

Digging for victory

Liz feels that by 2021 the “campaign felt really strong” with camps along the London to Birmingham route. The year started with the eviction of a tunnel system under Euston Square Gardens. Liz explained that the gardens “right outside the HS2 head office were one of the only green spaces in that area, sitting on one of the most polluted roads in London”. It was also one of the few places homeless people in the area found to sleep. The gardens were due for destruction initially to make way for a “temporary taxi rank” but activists found out that, “a luxury hotel” to serve wealthy HS2 customers was eventually due for construction on the site. They continued:

It was an important space. So they [activists] decided to dig the first HS2 tunnel. The activists lasted in there for 31 days. It was an amazing event and it certainly inspired me. I saw that you can take big, powerful action against government and HS2 and be very disruptive. It was the start of a set of tunnel protests. There were quite a few major evictions in a row after this. I think each eviction costs around three or four million pounds. So it was quite successful, I think, as a protest.

Liz told Corporate Watch that activists saw HS2 workers deforesting large sections of the proposed route “as fast as they could”. Time and time again, they saw trees cut down in front of their eyes and Liz explained that this led to further questions about areas cleared that didn’t seem connected to route maps. Since HS2 is allegedly “meant to be a public infrastructure project, they’re not allowed to be seen to be profiting from the wood that they’re chopping down”.  But protesters still have questions about where “tonnes and tonnes of wood” from these trees went.

Desolation and displacement 

The recent injunctions are simply the latest in an ongoing wave of legislation pushed through by the government to build HS2. Although anti-Hs2 campaigners celebrated when the government scrapped the East Midlands-Leeds stretch of the route, this was only a partial victory. In 2017, it passed a Phase One Hybrid Bill to push ahead with the London to West Midlands section of the route. Phase Two a (West Midlands to Crewe) passed in January 2021 and Phase 2b (Crewe to Manchester) is currently going through parliament. Hybrid bills blend public legislation (which affects everyone) with private (impacting specific individuals or groups). Although used rarely, they create sneaky ways for governments to legally embed corporate destruction because they authorise compulsory purchasing, destruction of conservation areas or changing rights of way as part of major infrastructure projects.

Activists like Liz and Nancy, have seen first-hand the implication of these hybrid bills enabling corporations to benefit from a tax-payer-funded project, and the devastating impact of this legislation for home and land owners along the route. As Liz explained:

The hybrid bill is legislation that gives effectively gives HS2 their own set of laws regarding the construction of this huge mega project. It gives them the sort of ‘legal right’ to get the funding from the taxpayer and to circumvent certain practices (like ecological practices) that other companies or private citizens would have to abide by to get something done. 

A normal construction company would have to go by the rulebook, but the hybrid bill effectively gives them an excuse saying ‘they need to make this train line’ so anything that they want to do to make that happen, they can do.

Nancy continued:

And the other thing that the bill gives the right to do is compulsory purchase land. So this affects anyone unfortunate enough to live on the HS2 route or very close to it. And that’s another important thing to explain about HS2 – it’s such a massive construction project. Some people might think ‘oh, it’s just a train line – that doesn’t sound that bad’. But it’s huge. It’s got to be a certain width – I think about the width of Parliament Square at it’s narrowest.

Then along with all that they’ve got to build all the access roads, they’ve got to build compounds to store all their machinery, they’ve got to reroute other bits of road. And they’ve also got to build several factories, bentonite factories are one of the main ones. It’s not just little country train line, it’s massive. It also needs to be fairly flat. So in places where the land is high, they’ve got to make massive cuttings into hillsides. In places where the ground is lower, they’ve got to build viaducts for the trains to go along. You really, really feel how vast it is when driving around the Chilterns or Oxford areas. Because every road you go down, there are signs, traffic lights, compounds – its desolate.

A lot of people are now displaced. Some people have just had to move out of their houses. Some people have had little bits of their land taken off them… I’ve heard of someone who has a farm and HS2 now owns both of the access roads to it.

And then there are also houses in what’s known as ‘blight’. So if HS2 makes your house completely worthless, they have to buy it but then often end up renting that barn back out [to the previous owner] until it’s time to demolish it. Some people are just sort of left right on the fringes where they’re not in blight, but it’s certainly enough to ruin where they live, with no chance of any financial payment to compensate.

Tax-payer funded destruction

In terms of challenging corporate power, Liz told us that HS2 presented some unique challenges because it’s “a limited company which technically should mean it’s a private company. Mark Thurston [HS2 CEO] earns over half a million pounds a year… so it sounds like a private company but it’s fully funded by the government”. In fact, Thurston is also the UK’s highest-paid public sector employee.

Liz continued:

Essentially, the people that work in the top ranks of it are all civil servants but they don’t have the same accountability processes that an actual civil servant would.

Some of the companies that build HS2 are involved in many other big projects in the UK today. And four huge companies were merged to do some of the building contracts. Those are Eiffage, Kier, Bam Nuttall and Ferrovial. 

Liz said that activists have started to look towards other business ventures these companies engage in. “Kier,’ for example, ‘don’t only build terrible cheap housing, they build vivisection labs. And they are also involved heavily in the construction of the mega prisons planned in the next few years”. As Liz also pointed out, the scope for corporate profit from HS2 is vast and extends far beyond construction.

There’s one [company] called Fusion Fencing, which does all the enabling works for HS2. So whenever a site gets taken, or a compound is built, they’ll come and do all the fencing. The fencing contract is massive. I mean, along 107 miles of train line, that’s a huge, huge contract for fencing for the next 30 years, or something like that. 

And then there are the companies profiting from security. 

Another big contract is for Control Risks Group – the people that essentially supply security services for HS2. You’d wonder why a mega project that has been written into our history as part of the democratic will of parliament needs a security system? That’s something I’ve questioned, but they are running to the tune of about £140 million so far, which is quite an expensive security detail for a train line. Control Risks Group is essentially staffed by a lot of ex-military people.

As early as 2017, Control Risks Group secured contracts worth at least £64 million. The tender contract stated the work required involved “proactive area patrolling, close personal protection and management of locked on protesters”. It also stated the contractor was “expected to be insight led with gathering of insight forming a significant part of the contract”.

Nancy continued:

When you’re on the protest camps, you get to know the different security groups because they have slightly different uniforms. I don’t know exactly who employs specific people, but the lowest level security are ‘fondly’ known as the carrots, because they wear just orange. Then there’s the Black Onyx, they’re very ex-military, and they’re there to add more muscle and are more intimidating. And then you have the IRT who are sent in supposedly for the ‘hairy moments’. They show up where there are protesters, or even when [contractors] do something that they anticipate they will get protesters at – they’re there to forcibly remove people. And they wear all black.

 “A special place to be”

Despite exhaustion from continuous evictions and surviving onsite through all seasons, Liz and Nancy shared insights about the power of activist communities. “For me’ Liz said, ‘the camps acted like a huge flashpoint for so many things that weren’t necessarily just about HS2”.

I encountered conversations around patriarchy and conversations around trans rights, pronouns and land rights – things I’d not really discussed before in my ‘previous life’. It was a real melting point, a melting pot of ideas and ideologies and people in a special place. I met a group of nature defenders with such solidarity for what they were doing and for the campaign.

HS2 was a good follow on from the fracking campaigns. It was the next big culturally important set of camps and activist protests against big government infrastructure and big government plans.

Injunction, Injunction, Injunction

Following news of the injunctions, Corporate Watch caught up with Liz to see how HS2 activists felt:

It’s devastating. It’s completely devastating. They’ve got everything they wanted now, stated in proper case law. They already had legal standing through the hybrid bills and now the judge has given them complete impunity to basically create their own mini-state.

It’s worrying because this affects every campaign from now on. If parliament has decided something should ahead it’ll get the green light like the Rwanda policy or, new coal fields or, North Sea oil or, anything that doesn’t relate to net zero promises or the Paris Climate Agreement. There’s no scope for protesting against them because there’ll be deemed as in the public interest. 

The new injunction potentially threatens using Articles 10 and 11 in the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR) (which protect the rights of assembly and free speech) as legal defences for protest. Essentially, injunctions like this strengthen Article 1 (A1P1) in the EHCR which protects rights to enjoy “property peacefully” because it prioritises HS2’s ownership of land on the proposed route. This is particularly offensive given how the property rights of the former owners have been destroyed by compulsory purchase orders.

As Liz noted, under this legislation “even slow walking has been completely made illegal. So something that was a tried and tested tactic is impossible to undertake” anywhere near the HS2 route. Liz added:

It seems that the judges dealing with this are not really not in our favour because they assume that parliament is acting in the best interest of all the people in the country. So it’s an uphill struggle to get legal systems to listen.

But Corporate Watch suggested that in some ways, the injunction is also proof that years of protest had a powerful impact – almost a backhanded compliment – to the campaign’s success. Liz laughed saying:

Well, that’s true! We know the reason that this injunction was granted was to stop an imminent threat of nuisance and disruption to the HS2 project. They were worried. The ‘endless guerrilla tactics’ is something that’s cited many times in the ruling. They thought we shouldn’t have the right to endlessly apply guerrilla tactics to HS2 and also that Articles 10 and 11 shouldn’t be limitless. But because of the way we behave, moving from site to site, because of how effective we’ve been disrupting and delaying, yeah, that’s why this has happened really: because it’s been working.

“Never gonna stop”

Looking to the future, now the site-wide injunction is in place, Liz said:

We have to find ways that we can feel good about the way that we move through the world. We’re never gonna stop doing the things that we think are important. I’m never gonna stop doing the things that I feel make a difference.

We just have to find new sneakier ways to go around and circumvent all these draconian rules that are being imposed on us.

 

Images courtesy of Screw You HS2 and Stop HS2

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HS2 poster explainer: who profits? https://corporatewatch.org/hs2-poster-explainer-who-profits/ Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:22:00 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=9589 As protests continue to mount against the construction of the HS2 train line, we publish this infographic poster to help campaigners disseminate information on the project. We look at the route, which contractors are profiting from specific legs of the track, and the key arguments against the extortionate development. The A3 poster is designed to […]

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As protests continue to mount against the construction of the HS2 train line, we publish this infographic poster to help campaigners disseminate information on the project. We look at the route, which contractors are profiting from specific legs of the track, and the key arguments against the extortionate development. The A3 poster is designed to go up on community notice boards, protest camp info points, or just your toilet door. The text of the poster is reproduced below. Click here to download the poster for printing.

HS2: What is it?

High Speed Two (‘HS2’) is the plan to build a 343-mile, high speed cross-country railway line. HS2 would pick up from HS1, which connects the Channel Tunnel to London, snaking to Leeds & Manchester via Birmingham.

Plans for the project have been in the pipeline since 2009, and the final stages are not expected to be completed until 2040.

The initial budget for the work was £33 billion, but the expected cost has since spiralled to over £100 billion. The project is being overseen by High Speed Two Ltd, a state-owned company.

The route & main contractors

To see an enlarged version of this schematic route map and the joint ventures building each leg double click on the image to open it in a new tab.

schematic route map

A number of joint ventures (‘JVs’) have been awarded the largest contracts to build sections of the route, but hundreds of other companies have been eager to cash in: from building and signalling contracts, to legal and insurance services – and even psychologists to make sure the companies can work well together…

To get past the resistance, various bailiff and security companies have also been employed, including G4S and the notorious National Eviction Team (part of the High Court Enforcement Group).

Why are people against it?

How can we stop it?

There is a diverse and growing resistance to HS2. The project is years behind schedule and there are rumours that the eastern leg to Leeds may be scrapped. Protest camps have been set up along the route of the line and people are using a range of tactics to oppose construction, from office occupations and tunnel digging, to theatrical marches and tree sits.

For more information, visit stophs2.org and hs2rebellion.earth

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ENKA: key facts about the Turkish megacorp behind the Rioni Valley dams https://corporatewatch.org/enka-key-facts-about-the-turkish-megacorp-behind-the-rioni-valley-dams/ Thu, 29 Apr 2021 17:10:46 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=9268 See also: article here on the struggle against the Rioni valley dam projects in Georgia. The hotly resisted dam project in the Rioni valley, Georgia, is being built by a company called ENKA Renewables. This is 90% owned by Turkish building corporation ENKA. The other 10% is owned by a Norwegian investment company called Clean […]

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See also: article here on the struggle against the Rioni valley dam projects in Georgia.

The hotly resisted dam project in the Rioni valley, Georgia, is being built by a company called ENKA Renewables. This is 90% owned by Turkish building corporation ENKA. The other 10% is owned by a Norwegian investment company called Clean Energy Group.

ENKA is one of the big beasts of Turkish capitalism. It calls itself the country’s biggest construction company, and is also its biggest private sector electricity generator.

ENKA makes a lot of money. In 2020 it had a turnover of $1.66 billion – from which it made a massive profit of $644 million. That is an astonishing profit rate of 39%, far higher than most building companies dream of. It made a similarly huge profit in 2019, and it prides itself on paying a cash dividend to its owners each year. The bulk of profits appear to come from financial “investing activities” rather than actual building work. (See: 2020 Annual Report and accounts).

The company is owned by members of the Tara and Gülçelik families, descendants of its founding brothers-in-law from the 1950s. Billionaire founder Şarık Tara became a leading figure of the Turkish industrial and political elite, a “close friend” of 1980s prime minister Turgut Özal, known for his “economic liberalisation” programme. The present chairman of the board is his son Sinan Tara, and the CEO is his grandson Mehmet Tara.

CEO Mehmet Tara

Beyond Turkey, the company has a big presence in Russia, where it is a major developer and owner of office buildings, shopping centres and hotels.

As a power generator, ENKA claims it can supply 11% of Turkey’s electricity needs. If the Georgian dams go ahead on schedule, they will become the company’s first “revenue generating” electric power projects outside Turkey.

ENKA is active worldwide. Many of its main schemes are in the former USSR, Balkans countries and the Middle East – notably Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It is building major electric power and petrochemical plants in Iraq, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, and motorways in Serbia. But it also works further afield – e.g., Nassau Cruise Port Project in the Bahamas.

ENKA’s projects in Saudi Arabia (through its subsidiary Kasktas) include essential infrastructure work around Islam’s holiest site the Ka’aba.

At the same time, ENKA has a long-standing partnership with the US government to build its embassies and consulates. It built the US embassies in Russia, Afghanistan, and several African countries.

ENKA has a longstanding partnership with massive US building corporation Bechtel, working on joint ventures in the Balkans, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Oman. It has a partnership with US company Caddell Construction providing “consultancy and project services” on “special projects” including in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Its many other subsidiary companies include a travel agency (ENKA travel, also operating as ENTAS) offering tours in Turkey.

Back home in Turkey, the ENKA Foundation helps bolster the company’s public image by running chains of schools (some fee-paying, some free), sports clubs, theatres and an art gallery. ENKA Sports Club has a record of training Turkish Olympic athletes.

The company is not so active in Western Europe, but says that it is “engaged in construction and trading activities in Romania, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Serbia and Kosovo”. It also has two companies registered in Germany (Entrade) and the Netherlands (Enka Holding) which “manage foreign investments”.

It has a UK subsidiary called Enka UK Construction. Currently this company appears not to be working in the UK, but on power plant projects in Iraq.

 

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Mears Group 2020 update: scandal-ridden landlord under fire from Glasgow to Gloucester https://corporatewatch.org/mears-group-2020-update-scandal-ridden-landlord-under-fire-from-glasgow-to-gloucester/ Wed, 10 Jun 2020 12:27:23 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=7959 At the start of 2019 we published a profile on Mears Group. The Gloucester based housing repairs outsourcer had just won a £1.15 billion contract to run the refugee accommodation system in Scotland, Northern Ireland and much of the north of England. In the last year, refugee and housing campaigners have been keeping a close […]

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At the start of 2019 we published a profile on Mears Group. The Gloucester based housing repairs outsourcer had just won a £1.15 billion contract to run the refugee accommodation system in Scotland, Northern Ireland and much of the north of England.

In the last year, refugee and housing campaigners have been keeping a close eye on Mears, with local resistance to its slum landlord practices emerging across the UK. This report just gives a quick update on some recent news on the company.

Unless you live in one of the properties it manages, you may well not have heard of Mears. But it has quietly built up a small empire across the UK, primarily by taking over privatised housing services from local councils. Along the way it’s already clocked up a list of scandals from Glasgow down to Brighton, involving accusations of local government corruption and numerous alleged overcharging scams.

The death of Adnan Olbeh

Adnan Olbeh was found dead on 5 May 2020 in a Glasgow hotel where he had been placed by Mears Group under its management of the UK’s “asylum dispersal” scheme. He was 30 years old, from Syria. The cause of death is unclear, with any postmortem examination delayed by the corona crisis.

What is known is that Adnan was one of hundreds of refugees recently evicted from their flats by Mears and other asylum landlords.

The mass evictions were part of the Home Office’s coronavirus strategy. Often with just an hour’s notice, people were told to pack and leave their flats and moved into hotels. The logic behind this is not entirely clear, but it seems in line with other aspects of the government’s shambolic covid-19 response. “Social distancing” measures included people being transported four or five to a small van, stripped of cash support and facilities to cook for themselves, and instead being made to eat close together in hotel canteens — with food including the likes of undercooked chicken and mouldy bread.

According to Smina Akhtar, interviewed by John Grayson for the Institute for Race Relations:

“We have had lots of reports from people in the hotels about really awful food and poor conditions there. Adnan’s friend told me that his mental health really deteriorated in the hotel. A week before he died his friend asked the hotel to call an emergency ambulance because Adnan was in a terrible state. His friend went with him to the hospital but said that the staff there did nothing, they offered him no medication, and sent him back to his hotel.”

According to Mears, in evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs select committee, it was acting on a directive from the Home Office.

Mears’ Home Office contracts so far

Adnan Olbeh’s death is one visible tragedy linked to the misery of the UK asylum system. Thousands more people live with the everyday effects of a housing system which “disperses” people into run-down slum housing in the country’s most impoverished communities.

For Mears, this means a ten year profit stream. For Mears’ new tenants – rat infestations, broken boilers, collapsed ceilings, piles of rubbish, and environmental hazards of all kinds seem the norm.

John Grayson of South Yorkshire Asylum Action Group (Symaag) has been documenting the “chaotic” and “failed” Mears contract in Yorkshire. In the past he reported on similar conditions under the last contract holder, G4S.

So have Mears even managed to underperform the shambles of G4S’ housing management? It’s maybe too early to make a full comparison. But it doesn’t look like things have got off to a good start.

G4S and others had complained bitterly about making losses on the former round of asylum housing contracts. To drive profits up, Mears started their own tenure by trying to slash the amounts they pay to the smaller landlords they rent from. In South Yorkshire, Mears offered landlords new contracts paying up to 20% less than G4S had done. Many refused to sign up in what John Grayson calls a “virtual landlords strike” which left Mears struggling to place the asylum seekers it was contracted to house.

In the North East, Mears had similar problems negotiating with G4S’ main sub-contractor Jomast – development company headed by Teesside multi-millionaire Stuart Monk. According to Grayson, this left over 1000 people stuck in hotels across West Yorkshire and Humberside in Wakefield’s “Urban House” temporary asylum accommodation over the winter. And, as he explained to us, the problem is by no means solved.

“When Covid-19 arrived the whole asylum housing system was frozen in the Mears contract areas with around 400 people still in hotels and 270 in Urban House. Many people have now spent four months in Urban House, when they are only meant to stay there a few weeks. Urban House has appalling conditions which have been extensively documented in pictures and videos sent out from people resisting inside.”

One thing Mears has achieved in Yorkshire is provoking a major local authority to come out against the contract. In January, as well as launching inspections of 240 Mears properties, Sheffield Council called on the Home Office to terminate the Mears contract and transfer asylum housing in the city directly to the council. This is only really a token gesture – the council has no say in national asylum policy. But it could be one move in a shift against the outsourced asylum housing system, if followed up elsewhere in the country.

In Scotland, there is a strong solidarity network in support of refugee housing rights – including the Glasgow No Evictions campaign and groups such as the Unity Centre, Living Rent tenants union, and charity Positive Action in Housing. The main rallying point in 2019 was previous contractor Serco’s threatened “lock change evictions” of 300 of its tenants. Well aware of the opposition, Mears has so far tried to tread more carefully. It has promised not to carry out similar evictions, and set up a so-called “independent scrutiny board” to deflect criticism.

In the North of Ireland, the PPR Project is one association monitoring and exposing conditions in Mears’ housing there.

Milton Keynes mystery

Before it turned asylum landlord, Mears’ big profit hope was getting more involved in the very lucrative business of housing development. One of its potential jackpots was a 50/50 joint venture with Milton Keynes council to redevelop seven major estates. The deal was valued at £1 billion, and branded as “YourMK”.

But as of last year, the scheme was dead in the water. In July 2018, the council said it was putting the regeneration deal “on hold”. In October 2018, whistleblower allegations emerged that Mears had been overcharging Milton Keynes for repairs by up to £80,000 a month, with overall some £15 million “unaccounted for”. When we looked at Mears last February, the YourMK website had gone dead, with a page announcing that further information would be coming soon.

The MK scandal still seems to be quietly brewing. In July 2019, the MK Citizen reported first of all that the regeneration scheme was definitively “scrapped”. But a couple of weeks later a second Citizen report corrected that YourMK was “not dead but dormant”, with the council and Mears “in discussions about whether it will remain the right partnership structure in future”.

In May 2020, we haven’t seen any new announcements. The YourMK website is still down, and there is no official word on that supposedly missing 15 million. Where are the budding investigative journalists of Milton Keynes to get to the bottom of this?

Booted out of Brighton

Mears’ ten year housing maintenance contract with Brighton and Hove council finally came to an end on 31 May. Again, customer complaints came together with whistleblower revelations – and, yet again, the apparent disappearance of large sums of money.

A council investigation found it had been overcharged by £500,000 by a plastering subcontractor hired by Mears. A second investigation was later opened into overcharging for electrical work.

Mears will not be missed in Brighton. And just before they left, in February 2020 their workers were balloting for strike action over pay and Mears’ plan to combine holiday and sick pay.

Newham: Mears Cats

In East London, Mears run 250 homes which are set for demolition as part of Newham Council’s “Regeneration Zone” in Canning Town and Custom House, E16.

Like Milton Keynes, this is another overlong saga of a failing regeneration project leaving people stuck in poor housing. Back in 2011, Newham handed the properties to a private management company called Omega to let out on short term commercial tenancies. This was supposed to be a “temporary” arrangement before the bulldozers came in. Mears bought out the contract in 2014, and six years later are still in place. While the buildings are still owned by the council, Mears collect the rent and do the repairs – in theory.

In reality, Custom House tenants speak of conditions that would be very familiar to anyone in Mears’ asylum accommodation in Sheffield or Glasgow. Months overdue repairs, water leaks, exposed asbestos, rat infestations and a “war” to get anything done – all whilst paying average rents twice as high as in directly run Newham council properties.

Tenants have set up a vocal campaign group called Mears Cats, part of the Peoples Empowerment Alliance of Custom House, pushing to get their repairs done and for Newham Council to take direct responsibility. Boglarka Filler, one of the Mears Cats, told Corporate Watch:

“Schemes such as the partnership between Mears and Newham Council have brought further misery to people already on the receiving end of austerity and insecure employment. Mears Cats are campaigning for better quality, cheaper housing for Mears tenants struggling to cope with disrepair and debts caused by high rents. We will take action to ensure that the Mears contract will not be renewed in Newham when it runs out in 2021, and that we get a fair deal next time.”

Steady profits, feisty shareholders

On a business front, Mears continues to turn a decent profit and pay out to its shareholders. Its last year (2018) annual results clocked operating profits up 4.7% (though revenue was 3% down), and shareholders pocketed a dividend up 3% on the year before.

Mears has kept up its strategy of honing in on its “core” housing maintenance business. After buying up Mitie’s property division last year, it sold off its own home care wing.

Most recently, Mears has said that it only expects a modest impact from the covid crisis. Housing is what is called “non-discretionary” spending – unlike foreign holidays or consumer fads, there is still demand for essential repairs in a downturn. The bulk of Mears’ income is locked in from long term contracts, largely with the public sector. As the company explained, 90% of its order book comes from public bodies and “the government has made a clear commitment that invoices will be settled quickly”.

Through the lockdown, Mears has said it is only carrying out only emergency repairs. Although workers complain they are still being sent on unnecessary jobs without “social distancing” in place, or called in just to sit in company offices.

Less positive for management, there are new rumbles from rebellious shareholders. Back in 2018 one of the two biggest shareholders, a German investment manager called Shareholder Value Management (SVM) successfully pushed out the company’s long-term chairman. At the latest AGM in June 2019, the other big investor also threw its weight around.

PrimeStone Capital, a Mayfair based investor which owns over 13% of Mears’ shares, tried to get two new nominees on the board of directors against management’s wishes. The shareholder rebellion was narrowly defeated. In a statement, PrimeStone explained it was unhappy that “the company’s revenues and profit have remained flat despite its strong market position and growth prospects [while] average net debt has doubled”.

It argued that:

“Mears’ underperformance is predominantly due to a lack of strategic, commercial and financial experience on the board. The current board has a strong concentration of directors with a background in social housing, health & safety and charities.”

Mears’ profit-hungry management guarantee shareholder payoffs by squeezing their repair costs to the bone. The outcome is the lived experience of their tenants across the UK. But, for some shareholders, they’re still not doing enough.

Students and shirts

Despite its well documented failings, Mears continues to win new contracts – for example, a new housing development project in North Lanarkshire, and a housing maintenance and repairs contract with Crawley council.

Another sideline is its student housing offshoot Mears Student Life, so far with just two complexes in Dundee and Salford.

Mears also likes a bit of football. In May 2019 the League One side Rotherham United confirmed it had extended its contract to emblazon the company’s classy red and black logo on its away kits for the 2019/20 season.

Flowers left for Adnan Olbeh

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Corona Capitalism: some of the companies cashing in on the crisis, from Bezos to Big Pharma .. https://corporatewatch.org/corona-capitalism-some-of-the-companies-cashing-in-on-the-crisis-from-bezos-to-big-pharma/ Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:43:26 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=7819 Big Pharma; Crispin Odey; Amazon; Deliveroo; Balfour Beatty; Britannia Hotels; Marshall Wace; Richard Branson Do you want us to look into a company exploiting its workers or profiting from the corona crisis? Get in touch at contact[AT] corporatewatch.org. The corona crisis may have smashed stock markets and halted economic growth but for some it’s a […]

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Big Pharma; Crispin Odey; Amazon; Deliveroo; Balfour Beatty; Britannia Hotels; Marshall Wace; Richard Branson

Do you want us to look into a company exploiting its workers or profiting from the corona crisis? Get in touch at contact[AT] corporatewatch.org.

The corona crisis may have smashed stock markets and halted economic growth but for some it’s a great business opportunity. Here is a quick round-up of some recent corona profiteering stories, with some thoughts at the bottom about broader structural issues to keep in mind at the same time as getting angry at the obvious ‘baddies’.

Rising pharma

While small-time spivs make a quick buck selling tissues or face masks at inflated prices, the big money is in the race for vaccines. One of the drugs being tested as a possible Covid 19 medicine is chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug produced by (among others) the US company Rising Pharmaceuticals. According to a report in the Financial Times, Rising massively hiked the price of its chloraquine as the corona scare began:

“On January 23, according to data from research firm Elsevier […] the drug price rose 97.86 per cent to $7.66 per 250mg pill and $19.88 per 500mg pill”.

In response, Rising said the price rise was “coincidental” and that it restored the old price once it realised that the drug might be in demand because of the outbreak. Just three months ago, Rising had admitted price fixing in a case in Pennsylvania and agreed to pay $3 million in fines and restitution.

There is a major issue brewing behind this story. In capitalism, choices about what drugs are developed and produced are driven by their profit potential. As a result, public health resources are drained by the high prices charged for patented medicines, which corporations justify as the rewards they need to incentivise research. But also, research into less profitable medicines is underfunded – and this includes the kind of antiviral drugs needed to fight coronavirus.

So in the US, as reported by Bloomberg, venture capitalists have poured $42 billion into drug development in the last three years. Nearly half of that has flooded into potentially lucrative treatments for cancer and rare diseases. Only 5% went into drugs that prevent infections.

If the corona crisis pushes up relevant drug prices that might encourage more corporate research. But it would also mean further haemorrhaging of health service funds into investors’ pockets.

Scandalous speculators

A political scandal broke in the US on 19 March with revelations that a number of senators took advantage of confidential corona warnings to dump shares. At least three senators sold shares in companies set to be negatively affected by the corona crisis after attending a classified Senate Health Committee briefing back in January.

In the UK, Private Eye reported on London-based hedge funds who have made millions in recent weeks by betting on falling share prices. One of these is Odey Asset Management, run by multi-millionaire Crispin Odey, Rupert Murdoch’s former son-in-law and major backer of Boris Johnson and Brexit.

Another hedge fund that has reportedly “made a killing from shorting Britain’s travel and leisure sector” is Marshall Wace, run by two other high-profile and politically active multi-millionaires, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace.

Odey

The lockdown delivery boom

These short-selling millionaires bet against the shares of companies in corona-hammered sectors: for example, travel companies, restaurants, and real estate investment. But some other industries, such as online retail and delivery, have much better prospects in a locked-down world.

As has been widely reported, that delivery boom means busy days and nights for workers – but what if those workers get sick? Amazon workers talk of being pushed to do overtime, and lack of guaranteed sickpay. In an open letter to CEO Jeff Bezos on 17 March, New York warehouse workers wrote:

“We have seen an increase in the volume of such goods, placing a greater strain on workers. Yet despite larger workloads, Amazon continues to enforce and raise productivity quotas. At the same time, many workers have been shocked to discover the company has been illegally denying them paid sick leave.”

The company says it will pay for people who test positive for the virus – but of course many people cannot get tested. The workers’ demands include hazard pay, childcare, paid sick leave for all and warehouse shutdowns if the virus is detected.

In the UK, Deliveroo workers organising with the IWGB union have written to the company’s CEO Will Shu with demands including “full pay for self-isolation”, regular virus testing, and supplies of protective equipment.

The IWGB has also reported that medical couriers working for The Doctors Laboratory (TDL), whose work includes transporting COVID-19 specimens, have been told they will only get the statutory £94 a week sick pay if they are ill at work. When we investigated TDL in 2018, their boss had made £1.6 million in a single year.

This is an anxious time for precarious workers. But as their work becomes increasingly valuable, many are organising for better pay and conditions. Delivery workers’ struggles could become a key front in the battle over how societies respond to this crisis.

Bezos

The construction cartel keeps going

On 23 March Boris Johnson announced the UK was going into lockdown, following France, Spain and Italy in enforcing people staying in their homes except for “essential” trips. The announcement was no surprise, following days of building pressure in corporate and social media to police “stay at home” guidance.

But while public outrage focused on irresponsible millennials hanging out in parks, the main spaces where people are still physically gathered are workplaces, as well as rush hour public transport used by people going to work. Nor does everyone has the option to work safely from home. As construction trade unionist and Blacklisted author Dave Smith wrote on twitter:

“No social gatherings of more than 2 people outside. But it’s perfectly fine for tens of thousands of construction workers to meet up on building sites that are still open all around the country. Pay the Self-Employed #ShutTheSites”
The construction issue is a particular site of struggle because the bulk of building workers are now technically “self-employed”, or hired through payroll umbrella companies, with no chance of sick pay. And because, as Dave Smith puts it:
“The UK construction industry is run by a cartel of major contractors who have repeatedly been found guilty of putting profits before workers health and blacklisting those who complain about safety.”
On 24 March, workers forced the closure of at least one big site, the MGT Energy plant in Middlesborough. But Balfour Beatty, one of Britain’s heavyweight building firms, reportedly sent a letter to all their sites saying they were staying open for business. They had the backing of housing minister Robert Jenrick, who tweeted:
If you are working on site, you can continue to do so. […] Outside of work, remember to #StayHomeSaveLives”

Who feels the pain?

Certainly, plenty of businesses are losing money. The big question is: who will feel the pain as workplaces close? For many bosses and investors, the imperative is to protect their own assets and pass the hit onto workers.

Some news stories in the last week have highlighted a few “rogue” bosses. Britannia Hotels, dubbed Britain’s “worst hotel chain”, hasn’t improved its reputation after sacking more than a dozen workers and ordering them to immediately leave their accommodation in its Coylumbridge Aviemore Hotel in Scotland.

According to Companies House records, Britannia Hotels’ main owner is still founding director Alex Langsam. Langsam made the Sunday Times list of the UK’s 500 richest people in 2016 with a fortune of £220 million. He was dubbed the “asylum king” by the Daily Mail for his sideline slum landlord business, housing refugees under the government’s asylum housing contracts.

Is Britannia a hard-pressed business forced into letting staff go? Hardly. Looking at Britannia’s most recent accounts, Britannia made a profit of £15.7 million for its owners in 2019 and £17 million the year before. Its total annual wage bill is £33 million. So Langsam could cover his workers’ wages for six months from just last year’s profits.

Another recent rogue is Richard Branson – now even taking flack from Conservative MPs after telling Virgin airline staff to take unpaid leave for two months. As one Tory pointed out, if Branson collected just 2% interest on his £3.8 billion net worth, that alone would make him £9.9 million over eight weeks – more than enough to cover sick pay for his airline workers.

It’s also worth noting that Branson has a particular role in the corona healthcare crisis as one of the UK’s biggest NHS profiteers. His Virgin Care business had already won over £2 billion in contracts from the gradual privatisation of the NHS by 2017. Branson himself is presumably safely secluded on his Bond villain-style Caribbean lair, Necker Island.

Heroes, villains, and the big issues behind

In standard media coverage of corona capitalism, Bezos or Branson stand in contrast to responsible capitalists who play their part in our collective fight against corona.

The big example in the UK so far has been the media’s praise of the weapons and car industries for agreeing to help build ventilators. As the Daily Express puts it, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce Aerospace and others are “rallying round as part of the Government’s ‘wartime’ effort to build ventilators and other vital medical equipment”. Specific information on what they will contribute is “confidential”.

It’s still early days for sure, but already one big corona capitalism PR narrative seems to be emerging. Corporations “rally round” to help the nation’s “war effort” – except for a few bad apples who let the side down.

Those rogue bosses are named and shamed but, unlike lesser individuals caught breaking quarantine, they are unlikely to face any real consequences. There’s no call to actually commandeer Britannia’s hotels or Branson’s billions for the “war effort”.

Above all, this PR line steers us well clear of the structural issues that help make this crisis. It says nothing about the pillaging of healthcare systems like the NHS by drug companies, private health profiteers, PFI contractors, banks and investment funds. Certainly not about the market economy that ravages the earth to build up incredible wealth and resources for some, while others die for lack of care.

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Wreckers of the Earth: a map of ecocidal capitalism in London https://corporatewatch.org/londonmap2020/ Thu, 20 Feb 2020 14:02:51 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=7693 OCTOBER 2021 NOTE: This version of the directory is now out of date. For an updated version, see here “The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.” Utah Phillips London is one of the main worldwide hubs of ecocidal capitalism. This city is home […]

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OCTOBER 2021 NOTE: This version of the directory is now out of date. For an updated version, see here

The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.” Utah Phillips

London is one of the main worldwide hubs of ecocidal capitalism. This city is home to oil and gas giants including BP and Shell, as well as many of the world’s most devastating mining corporations. Perhaps even more significant is London’s role as a global centre for the banks, investors and traders who fund the planet-killers and launder the profits. As well as the insurers, law firms, arms dealers, security companies, PR agencies, lobbyists, and others who provide critical support.

Our “Wreckers of the Earth” map of London identifies and locates them. It comes in several forms: a poster map; an online map; and a written directory.

Poster Map

This A2 poster shows a map of central London with locations of 130 companies, their addresses and one-line introductions.

Click on this link to download a high res version for printing (OrangeDox, 10 MB). And here for a medium res (3 MB) image to view on screen.

Online map

We could only fit a small sample on the poster — the online version has a lot more. It features over 300 companies, with bios, references, and links for further information. This is available in OpenStreetMaps:

See full screen

You can also see a version in Googlemaps here. (This allows viewing in Google earth, but you also have to put up with all of Google’s clutter advertising nearby restaurants etc.)

You can also download all the data in this spreadsheet, including geo coordinates, to make your own map.

Wreckers directory

We’ve also put all the written information together in a Wreckers of the Earth company directory. As well as all the company information from the online map, this also features sector introductions explaining more about the roles these companies play.

You can read it online here.

And you can download it here as a PDF.

The “Wreckers of the Earth” project …

These are just the first outputs in our ongoing “Wreckers of the Earth” project. We’ll be publishing more info and analysis soon.

Capitalism is burning up our planet, devastating ecosystems and communities in its ceaseless hunger for profit. Everything is for sale, and the one great goal is growth: producing and consuming ever more stuff, even as it kills us. This engine of mass destruction is driven by burning forests: the long-dead forests of fossil fuels, and the living forests of today.

Though we all play our parts in the consumer system, some humans play much bigger parts than others. The people killing the earth are those directing the machine — and trying to crush our resistance to it.

Our “Wreckers of the Earth” project has two aims: to identify some of the main planet-killers; and to show how they work together as an overarching system of power and profit.

To break things down, we identify three main categories of wreckers:

  1. Primary planet-killers: companies on the “front lines” of ecological devastation. Hydrocarbon extractors, mining giants, agribusiness empires, plastics or cement producers, and other major polluters.
  2. The facilitators: the banks, investment funds, insurers, law firms, security companies, etc., who provide the supply lines and services without which the “front line” companies couldn’t function.
  3. Ideology industry: the institutions promoting and normalising environmental destruction, runaway growth, and the profit motive. Including media, academic units, think tanks, lobbyists, PR firms, and the boom industry of specialist “greenwashing” initiatives.

Future work in the project will investigate the links, from investment to ideas, that connect these together.

Wreckers in London

Ecocidal capitalism is a global system, but its nodes are local: right here, around the corner. Our particular focus is on identifying its bases and networks in London and the UK.

London is one of the main global hubs of ecocidal capitalism, home to fossil fuel giants and to many of the worst mining polluters. It is the world’s second largest financial centre (after New York). It is the key financial marketplace for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”, in bankers’ jargon), and for trading oil, metals, minerals and other “commodities” sucked out of the earth.

Lax regulation and tight security make London a money-laundering haven for the world’s tyrants, oligarchs, and billionaires. Its imperial legacy still lives in the infrastructure and services it offers: insurance markets, law firms, arms dealers, PR agencies, universities, down to prestige shopping and investment property.

Future work may also look beyond London to other parts of the UK.

Please get in touch if you have any information to add or other comments on this project!

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The Wreckers of the Earth: London company directory https://corporatewatch.org/the-wreckers-of-the-earth-london-company-directory/ Thu, 20 Feb 2020 13:38:30 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=7766 OCTOBER 2021 NOTE: This version of the directory is now out of date. For an updated version, see here Our new “Wreckers of the Earth” map of London identifies planet-killing companies based in the city, giving their addresses and short descriptions. This directory, accompanying the map, presents all the company information in one document. It […]

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OCTOBER 2021 NOTE: This version of the directory is now out of date. For an updated version, see here

Our new “Wreckers of the Earth” map of London identifies planet-killing companies based in the city, giving their addresses and short descriptions. This directory, accompanying the map, presents all the company information in one document. It also features sector introductions which explain a bit more about the roles these companies play.

London is one of the main global hubs of ecocidal capitalism. London is home to fossil fuel giants and to many of the worst mining polluters. It is the world’s second largest financial centre (after New York). It is the key financial marketplace for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and for trading oil, metals, minerals and other “commodities” sucked out of the earth. Lax regulation and tight security make London a money-laundering haven for the world’s tyrants, oligarchs, and billionaires. The legacy of the British empire still lives in the infrastructure and services London offers: insurance markets, law firms, arms dealers, PR agencies, down to prestige shopping and investment property.

To break things down, we identify three main categories of wreckers in this directory:

  1. Primary planet-killers: companies on the “front lines” of ecological devastation. Oil, coal and gas companies, mining giants, agribusiness empires, plastics or cement producers, and other major polluters.
  2. The facilitators: the banks, investment funds, insurers, law firms and security companies who provide the supply lines and services without which the “front line” companies couldn’t function.
  3. Ideology industry: the institutions promoting and normalising environmental destruction, runaway growth, and the profit motive. Including media, academic units, think tanks, lobbyists, PR firms, and the new boom industry of specialist “greenwashing” initiatives.

Our list is not comprehensive – there are more London-based companies working in these industries than we include here. We have prioritised those with the biggest global scale, plus others we think are worth highlighting in certain areas.

NB: this information was compiled and checked in February 2020.

Table of Contents

1. Primary planet-killers

1.1 Hydrocarbon majors

1.1.1 The national oil companies

1.1.2 The multinational “oil majors”

1.2 Hydrocarbons: smaller oil companies, frackers and UCG

1.2.1 Smaller “conventional” oil and gas companies

1.2.2 The frackers: “unconventional fossil fuels” specialists

1.3 Oil and gas services and shipping

1.3.1 Oilfield services

1.3.2 Liquefied Natural Gas

1.3.3 Oil shipping and gas pipelines

1.4 Non-fossil energy: nuclear, biomass, dams …

1.4.1 Nuclear

1.4.2 Biomass

1.4.3 Dams: hydropower companies

1.5 Mining: metals and minerals

1.6 Earth-killing infrastructure: engineering and construction

1.6.1 Energy conglomerates

1.6.2 International engineering and construction giants

1.6.3 UK big builders

1.6.4 Cement producers

1.7 Agribusiness

1.8 Plastics and other chemical polluters

2. The facilitators

2.1 Banks

2.1.1 China’s Big Four

2.1.2 Top 20 multinational investment banks

2.1.3 Multilateral development banks

2.1.4 Smaller specialist banks

2.2 Investment funds

2.2.1 Top 20 Institutional Investors

2.2.2 Sovereign Wealth Funds

2.2.3 Private Equity

2.2.4 Hedge Funds

2.2.5 Smaller earth-wrecking specialist investors

2.3 Insurance companies

2.4 Other finance sector institutions

2.4.1 Auditors: the Big 4 accountancy firms

2.4.2 The Rating Agencies

2.4.3 Exchanges

2.5 Law firms

2.6 Military and security

2.6.1. Arms manufacturers

2.6.2 PSMCs (Mercenaries and security firms)

2.7 Government

3. Ideology industry

3.1 Universities

3.2 Media

3.2.1 Social media platforms

3.2.2 TV and radio

3.2.3 Newspapers (and news websites)

3.3 Trade associations and Lobby groups

3.5 Think tanks

3.6 PR firms

3.7 Greenwashing services

The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.” Utah Phillips

Capitalism is burning up our planet, devastating ecosystems and communities in its ceaseless hunger for profit. Everything is for sale, and the one great goal is growth: producing and consuming ever more stuff, even as it kills us. This engine of mass destruction is driven by burning forests: the long-dead forests of fossil fuels, and the living forests of today.

Though we all play our parts in the consumer system, some people play much bigger parts than others. The people killing the earth are those directing the machine – and crushing any resistance to it.

Our “Wreckers of the Earth” project has two aims: to identify the main planet-killers based in London; and to show how they work together as a coordinated system of power and profit.

Our list is not comprehensive – there are more London-based companies working in these industries than we include here. We have prioritised those with the biggest global scale, plus others we think are worth highlighting in certain areas.

This project builds on the work of a number of other people and groups, highlighted in the text, and we hope it will encourage future work by others. Future work by us will investigate the links, from investment to ideas, that connect these together.

We have chosen to focus on London because it is the UK home for the most multinational companies, their financiers and other backers. Plus we don’t have the capacity to do the same exercise for the whole of the UK right now. But if you would like to do something similar for another city or town and want to hear about how we’ve put this together, get in touch.

Here we only identify the companies. Lots more could be done to investigate them further: to find out more about their business, key contracts or operations, which individuals are making the decisions, who is profiting, and so on. If you’re interested in this, have a look at our ‘Do-It-Yourself’ handbook, and sign up to news update emails to hear about the trainings we run.

1. Primary planet-killers

1.1 Hydrocarbon majors

The companies in this section provide the fuel that is burning the planet. “Big oil” includes the massive state-backed extractive industries of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, China, and the other major oil-soaked states. And alongside them the multinational “supermajors” – private corporations including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Conoco Philips, Total, and Eni. Between them these companies are responsible for the supply end of much of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

London is a major centre for big oil and gas. BP is headquartered here. Shell is incorporated in London, and runs many of its operations from here. Most of the other major firms have London offices. Even those without London locations have connections to London-based finance, insurance and other companies (listed in Part 2).

The descriptions below give very brief glimpses into their impact on the world. The companies in this section cause oil spills and other pollution disasters, instigate wars and massacres, bankroll authoritarian regimes, suppress revolutions and popular movements, destroy indigenous communities, disrupt ecosystems and wildlife habitats on a massive scale. Their publicly recorded trails of destruction already fill volumes – but many more of their activities may never come to light, thanks to the enormous power and violence they wield.

Some useful sources and further information: Platform Carbon Web” mapping of BP and Shell connections; Environmental Justice Atlas (EJA); Exxon Secrets (NB: Exxon’s UK base is outside London). For some more in-depth reading see: Burning Up – A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption, by Simon Pirani. We have referred to the CDB’s “Carbon Majors database” report listing major carbon emitters in the list below – this shouldn’t be taken to fully endorse their methodology, but it gives a useful glimpse of the scale of the problem.

Note: what about coal? This section doesn’t include the other big group of hydrocarbon planet-killers – the coal companies. Some multinationals involved in coal mining – notably, Glencore and RWE – are listed in the mining section below. However, the world’s very biggest coal producers are largely state-owned corporations – notably the massive Coal India Ltd, and the various Chinese coal companies – which do not have a presence in London. The world’s biggest private sector coal miner, US corporation Peabody Energy, has a “London” office that is actually in Guildford. On the other hand, many financiers of the coal industry are here: these are listed in Part 2.

1.1.1 The national oil companies

The world’s biggest oil and gas drillers are state-owned corporations run by the main fossil fuel producing nations. At the top of the list are the giants controlling the gulf oil fields of Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Russia’s vast gas reserves.

Saudi Aramco

Aramco Overseas Company: 10 Portman Square, Marylebone, London, W1H 6AZ

Source: https://europe.aramco.com/en/info/contact-us

Saudi Arabia’s national oil company. It is the world’s biggest single greenhouse gas emitter – responsible for 4.5% of all the world’s carbon emissions between 1988 and 2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. A minority of its shares were recently listed on the country’s local stock exchange but it remains majority owned by the tyrannical Saudi state.

Owners: majority owned by Saudi Arabia. A minority of shares are traded on the Saudi stock exchange.

Gazprom

20 Triton Street, London, NW1 3BF

Source: http://www.gazprom-mt.com/HowToFindUs/Pages/default.aspx

Massive Russian gas company, the world’s biggest natural gas producer. Responsible for an estimated 3.9% of all global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. Gazprom is a leading player in drilling new oil and gas fields opened by retreating ice in the Arctic.

Ownership: majority owned by Russian government. A minority of shares are traded on the London, Frankfurt and Moscow stock exchanges. Shareholders include BlackRock, Vanguard, and the other big investment funds profiled below in Part 2.

 

National Iranian Oil Company

NIOC House, 6th Floor, 4 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NE

Source: http://www.iocukltd.co.uk/contact.php

Iran controls the world’s second biggest oil fields after Saudi Arabia. These contributed 2.28% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. In 2018 the collision of an Iranian oil tanker in the East China Sea was one of the worst oil shipping disasters in decades, killing all 32 crew members and causing three huge oil spills.

Ownership: Iranian government. Iran’s oil was formerly owned by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the ancestor of today’s BP, before nationalisation in 1954.

 

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

5 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1AN

Source: http://chinachamber.org.uk/index.php/en/member-list/403-petrochina-international-london-co-ltd

CNPC is the Chinese state oil company, responsible for 1.56% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. Its 2010 Dalian oil spill caused an oil slick stretching over at least 183 square kilometres off North East China.

Owners: the government of China. CNPC also has a publicly listed susidiary, called Petro China, whose shareholders are a mixture of Chinese banks and funds, along with the big global investment funds profiled below in Part 2.

 

Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)

7 Old Park Lane, London, W1K 1QR

Source: http://www.pdvsa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6581&Itemid=898&lang=en

Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company, responsible for 1.23% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporting country in the world. Severe safety concerns have been raised about PDVSA’s working practices, in particular after a 2012 refinery explosion left 42 people dead and destroyed 1,600 homes. After Canada, Venezuela is the world’s leading producer of tar sands oil, as developing technology allows exploitation of the vast “extra heavy crude” deposits in the Orinoco Basin.

 

Kuwait Petroleum Corp

KPC House, 54 Pall Mall, London, SW1J 5JH

Source: https://www.kpc.com.kw/Pages/European-Regional-Office.aspx

Kuwait’s state-owned national oil company. Responsible for 1% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. The company has plans to increase oil production by 7.3% between 2018-30.

 

Sonatrach

Sonatrach Gas Marketing: 1st and 2nd floors, Panton House, London, 25 Haymarket, SW1Y 4EN

Source: https://www.sonatrach-uk.com/contact-us/

National state-owned oil company of Algeria. It is the largest company in Africa and is planning overseas expansion. Responsible for 1% of global carbon emissions 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. In July 2019, the company suffered its worst accident in 15 years when a huge liquefied natural gas complex exploded.

 

Petrobras

1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ

Source: http://www.petrobras.com.br/en/petrobras-worldwide/

Brazil’s national oil company. Responsible for 0.77% of emissions between 1988–2015 according to Carbon Majors Database. Responsible for a long list of oil spills, and mired in long-running corruption scandals.

Owners: Over 40% state owned. Other shares are traded on the Sao Paulo and New York exchanges, and held by Brazilian and global investment funds.

 

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

159 Hammersmith Road, London, W6 8BS

Source: https://www.nnpcgroup.com/CorporateServices/Pages/LondonOffice.aspx

The Nigerian government oil company. The Niger Delta basin is the site of Africa’s biggest oil and gas fields, which account for the majority of Nigeria’s export income. The Nigerian oil industry is run by joint ventures between NNPC and the “supermajor” multinationals – above all, Shell. In contrast to the wealth being sucked from the ground, the people of the Niger Delta live with massive environmental damage from oil spills and gas flaring, extreme poverty, and vicious repression in a zone militarised by the state and multinationals to protect oil profits.

 

Socar

2 St. James’s Market, London, SW1Y 4AH

Source: https://www.socartrading.com/contact

The state-owned petrochemical company of the oil and gas-rich central Asian state of Azerbaijan. Azeri gas is becoming a major geopolitical commodity as European governments build costly and environmentally devastating pipelines from the country to try and escape dependence on Russia’s Gazprom.

 

Rosneft

Rosneft Marine UK : Office 461, 1 Kingdom Street, Paddington Central, London, W2 6BD

Source: http://www.rosneftmarine.com/locations/

Russian oil giant, active worldwide but particularly in Siberia, the Arctic, and former Soviet territories around the Black Sea. Chairman of the board is former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Owners: 50% owned by the Russian government, the other 50% publicly traded. BP owns around 20% of the public shares, and QH Oil Investments – a Qatari state company – just under 19%.

 

1.1.2 The multinational “oil majors”

 

The “oil majors” (or even “supermajors”) is the name often given to the top flight of privately owned oil and gas multinationals. Most lists include the three big US-based firms – ExxonMobil, Conoco Philips, and Chevron; as well as Total from France, Britain’s BP, and the Anglo-Dutch company Shell. Eni, based in Italy, and Russia’s biggest privately-owned company Lukoil are also of a similar scale.

Despite their historic national affiliations, all these companies are largely owned by the same international investors – the likes of BlackRock, Vanguard, and the other massive investment funds we profile in Part 2 below.

 

BP

Global HQ: 1 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4PD

Supply and Trading (IST) office: 20 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5NJ

Source:https://www.bp.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home/where-we-operate/london.html; https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/what-we-do/bp-at-a-glance/key-business-addresses.html

Oil and gas multinational headquartered in London. Has a bloody history of colonial exploitation, environmental devastation and violence, from its foundations in the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to the world’s largest oil spill, Deepwater Horizon in 2010. BP contributed 1.53% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. In recent years the company has cynically tried to rebrand itself as a “green” energy company developing renewable sources – while in reality its business remains overwhelmingly focused on fossil fuels. It plans to spend £41 billion on new oil exploration in the next decade including projects in the Canadian “tar sands”, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, and the Amazon rainforest.

 

Royal Dutch Shell

Shell Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 7NA

Source: https://www.shell.co.uk/about-us/contact-us.html

British-Dutch multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom. Accountable for 1.67% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. Shell has no shortage of controversies; in particular it has been linked to the killing of the “Ogoni Nine”, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, as well as other horrific atrocities in the Niger Delta, where it is the main multinational oil exploiter. Shell, with Italian oil company Eni, is currently on trial in Italy over an alleged $1.3 billion bribery deal with a former Nigerian oil minister. In May 2016 an estimated 2,100 barrels of oil, nearly 90,000 gallons, spilled into the Gulf of Mexico – leaked from an undersea pipeline system operated off the Louisiana coast.

See also: Royal Dutch Shell: Corporate Rap Sheet, old Corporate Watch profile from 2005; Shell Must Fall campaign.

Owners: PLC listed on the London, Stock Exchange (LSE). The majority of shares are owned by the big investment funds profiled below in Part 2.

 

Chevron

1 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4HA

Source: https://group.canarywharf.com/office-occupier/chevron-uk/

US-based multinational oil company. Responsible for 1.3% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. And for a long list of oil spills, human rights atrocities, and much more. See the Environmental Justice Atlas for a map of social and environmental conflicts Chevron has a hand in.

Owners: PLC listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The majority of shares are owned by the big investment funds – the likes of BlackRock, Vanguard, and others profiled below in Part 2.

 

ConocoPhillips

20th floor, 1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ

Source: https://www.conocophillips.co.uk/

American multinational energy corporation, created through the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum Company in 2002. While maintaining a lower profile than other oil companies it has grown into the 3rd largest US oil company and been responsible for 0.91% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. Along with environmental degradation the company has a poor safety record in Texas, with more than two dozen workers killed in accidents and many others injured.

See also: “Corporate rap sheet” onthe Corporate Research Project website.

Owners: US PLC, owned by major investment funds.

 

Total SA

10 Upper Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5BF

Source: https://www.total.uk/contacts-gb

French multinational oil and gas company, one of the six biggest “supermajor” oil companies. Responsible for 0.95% of global carbon emissions in 1988-2015, according to Carbon Majors Database. Responsible for one of France’s worst environmental disasters, the 1999 sinking of the tanker Erika and the subsequent oil spill.

Owners: PLC, main shareholders are big global investment funds.

 

Eni

Eni House: 10 Ebury Bridge Road, London, SW1W 8PZ
Eni Trading & Shipping: 123 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9SL

Source: https://www.eni.com/enipedia/en_IT/international-presence/europe/enis-activities-in-the-united-kingdom.page

Italian multinational oil and gas “supermajor”, active worldwide. It is the second main multinational, after Shell, involved in the Niger Delta – “one of the world’s most polluted regions”. Eni and Shell are currently on trial in Italy over an alleged $1.3 billion bribery deal with a former Nigerian oil minister. In an extremely rare case, the Eni CEO actually faces criminal charges.

Owners: 30% owned by the government of Italy. The remaining shares are publicly traded and owned by major global investors.

 

Lukoil

25 Canada Square, London, E14 5LB

Source: http://www.lukoil.com/InvestorAndShareholderCenter/Contacts

Russian oil and gas multinational headquartered in Moscow, and Russia’s second biggest company after Gazprom.

Owners: around 40% of shares are owned by its top managers. Other shares are traded on multiple stock exchanges, and owned by global investment funds.

 

NB important companies without a London location:

ExxonMobil is the other massive US-based oil company. It does not have a London office, but a base with some 600 employees nearby in Surrey: Ermyn House, Ermyn Way, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8UX.

Pemex (Mexican state oil company)

Peabody Energy (US oil and coal multinational)

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Iraq National Oil Company

 

1.2 Hydrocarbons: smaller oil companies, frackers and UCG

1.2.1 Smaller “conventional” oil and gas companies

Energean

3rd floor, Accurist House, 44 Baker Street, London, W1U 7AL

Source: https://www.energean.com/contact-us/

Greek-Israeli-UK oil and gas company racing to turn the Mediterrenean into an oil field. This company has grown fast in just a few years, thanks to capital injections from private equity investors and a warm relationship with the Israeli government. One of its projects is the first Israel-Cyprus gas pipeline. See our recent Corporate Watch profile.

Owners: major shareholders include “vulture fund” Third Point; oil-focused private equity fund Kerogen Capital; and Israel’s Bank Hapoalim, alongside the company’s founding partners. It also recently sold shares on the London, Stock Exchange, attracting the usual global investment funds such as BlackRock and Vanguard.

 

Neptune Energy

Nova North, 11 Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BY

Source: https://www.neptuneenergy.com/contact-us/

British “independent” oil and gas company drilling in the North Sea, North Africa and Asia. Set up in 2015 with backing from private equity investors (see Part 2), it has since grown fast by buying up several other companies.

Owners: single biggest shareholder is China Investment Corporation (CIC), followed by a number of private equity investors.

 

Premier Oil PLC

23 Lower Belgrave Street, London, SW1W 0NR

Source: https://www.premier-oil.com/contact

Long-running British oil “independent” with licenses in the North Sea and Falkland Islands, as well as Mexico and more. A listed company and member of the FTSE 250 index.

 

Perenco

8 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1HQ

Source: https://www.perenco.com/contact

Anglo-French oil and gas company with headquarters in London and Paris, calling itself “the leading independent oil and gas company in Europe”. It has exploration and production activities in 16 countries around the globe, particularly in Africa but also in Turkey, Vietnam, Australia, South America, and the UK. Has been accused of human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the ‘poorest oil city in the world’.

 

Tullow

9 Chiswick Park, 566 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 5XT

Source: https://www.tullowoil.com/contact

London based oil company, founded in Ireland but now calling itself “Africa’s leading independent oil company”, pursuing exploration licenses in multiple countries in West and East Africa. Supported by the UK government through its January 2020 “UK-Africa Investment Summit”,which focused heavily on UK companies exploiting African oil and gas.

 

Seplat Petroleum

4th Floor, 50 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JH

Source: https://seplatpetroleum.com/contact/

Nigerian oil company focused on drilling in the Niger delta – the scene of horrendous pollution from oil spills and gas flaring, extreme poverty, and vicious repression. Recently bought Eland Oil and Gas, another Nigerian-focused company.

 

Victoria Oil & Gas Plc

Scott House, Suite 1 The Concourse, Waterloo Station, London, SE1 7LY

Source: https://www.victoriaoilandgas.com/contact-us/

London based company that has gas drilling contracts, and a gas pipeline, in Cameroon. It is also exploring for gas in Russia.

 

1.2.2 The frackers: “unconventional fossil fuels” specialists

The economic growth machine drives seemingly endless demand for fossil fuel energy, depleting the sources of so-called “conventional” oil and gas supply. Luckily for the industry (if not the rest of us), new technologies help keep the motor going. They also create openings for newer companies specialising in fracking and other new extraction methods. For a deeper look at these issues, see our 2014 publication: To the Ends of the Earth: A Guide to Unconventional Fossil Fuels.

Following significant local campaigns and strategic direct action, the UK government has currently ordered a halt or “moratorium” on fracking in Britain. It very much continues elsewhere, with many of the same companies involved. Much of the information in this section comes from the excellent Frack Off. See also their “list of bad guys”.

NB: not in the list:Ineos, one of the biggest UK players in this game, is listed below in the chemicals section (1.8). The infamous Cuadrilla Resources is based in Preston, Lancashire.

 

IGas Energy

7 Down Street, London, W1J 7AJ

Source: https://www.igasplc.com/contact

Operator of the largest number of onshore oil and gas fields in Britain. Frack Off identifies it as one of the key companies in the drive to fracking in the UK, with aims to extract Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Shale Gas in England and Scotland. It began to drill the first shale well in Nottinghamshire in November 2018, which was initially delayed by an 80-hour blockade of the site entrance. See: Powerbase profile.

Owners: listed on the LSE AIM exchange. Its biggest investor is energy private equity investor Kerogen Capital.

 

Angus Energy PLC

Building 3, Chiswick Park, 566 Chiswick High Street, London, W4 5YA

Source: http://www.angusenergy.co.uk/contact/

Angus Energy is a onshore oil and gas company which owns and operates two conventional production fields in Brockham and Lidsey, Southern England. It has a 25% stake in the Balcombe oil field, along with Cuadrilla, and is the operator there. (See also: Frack Off.)

Major Shareholders: Knowe Properties Limited (8.2%); Rupert Labrum (7.21%); JDA Consulting Limited (5.4%); Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius (4.9%).

 

Cluff Natural Resources plc

Third Floor, 5-8 The Sanctuary London, SW1P 3JS

Source: https://www.cluffnaturalresources.com/contact-us/

Has shares in a number of oil exploration licenses in the North Sea. Was one of the UK’s most visible companies pushing for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) companies, although currently says it is focusing back on North Sea oil. Founded by multi-millionaire Algy Cluff who made his fortune in gold-mining in Africa and North Sea Oil. (See: Frack Off.)

Owners: PLC listed on the LSE AIM exchange. Major shareholders: Canaccord (16.9%); IPGL (Michael Spencer) (16.8%); Lombard Odier (8.1%); Janus Henderson Investors (6.7%); Hargreaves Lansdown (5%); Fiske (4.5%); James Caird Asset Management (3.9%); SVM Asset Management (3%).

 

Europa Oil and Gas

6 Porter Street, London, W1U 6DD

Source: http://www.europaoil.com/contacts.aspx

Exploration and production company focused on very high impact exploration in the Atlantic off the coast of Ireland, supported by revenue from oil production in onshore UK. They hold two Underground Coal Gasification licenses around the Humber Estuary. (See: Frack Off.)

Listed on the LSE AIM exchange. Many of its main shareholders’ identities are hidden behind nominee accounts.

 

Rathlin Energy

Suite 1, 3rd Floor, 11-12 St. James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4LB

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06478035

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Rathlin Energy is exploring for oil and gas onshore in the East Riding of Yorkshire. As of August 2019 activity at its West Newton site was “suspended pending the analysis of the data acquired to date during the drilling and testing of the well”. (See also: Frack Off.)

 

UK Oil and Gas (UKOG)

The Broadgate Tower, 8th Floor, 20 Primrose Street, London, EC2A 2EW

Source: https://www.ukogplc.com/page.php?pID=7

British oil company mainly active onshore in the Weald Basin in southern England. It currently has eight licenses, including two now producing oil and others being explored or developed. Its subsidiaries include Horse Hill Developments, a company formed to drill on the Horse Hill wellsite where the company took out an injunction in 2018 to ban protests. (See also: Frack Off.)

Owners: UKOG is a PLC, listed on London’s AIM “alternative investment market” for smaller companies. Manyof its biggest investors’ identities are hidden behind nominee accounts.

 

1.3 Oil and gas services and shipping

 

When we think of the oil and gas industry, we tend to think of the headline-hitting companies listed above. These are the ones that bid for and operate “concessions” from governments to explore and drill for hydrocarbons. But behind them are a host of others, less well known but also indispensable, which work as specialist contractors and sub-contractors on different parts of the process.

In the industry jargon, hydrocarbon extraction is often divided into:

  • “upstream” – finding and drilling oil and gas;
  • “midstream” – transporting it, e.g., with tankers or pipelines;
  • “downstream” – refining it into finished products, such as petrol or plastics.

Some contractors work in just one of these areas, others cover a range of services. In this section we just give a few prominent examples. We also include a few of the big shipping companies that operate the major oil tanker fleets.

NB: notable companies without London locations: the UK has a thriving oil support industry, however many companies are based in and around the North Sea oil hub of Aberdeen rather than in London. This includes the UK HQs of: infamous US oil services and mercenary company Halliburton; big drilling contractor Transocean, involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster; Abbot Group, Score Group, and many more.

1.3.1 Oilfield services

John Wood Group (Wood PLC)

23rd Floor, 25 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5LQ

Source: https://www.woodplc.com/our-locations

Formerly Amec Foster Wheeler (2017), Wood provides engineering, production and maintenance services to the energy industry globally, including Canada’s tar sands industry and companies such as BP, Exxon Mobil, GDF Suez, Shell and EDF.

 

Lloyd’s Register Group

71 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BS

Source: https://www.lr.org/en-us/contact-us/?region=GBR#office-locations

LR is a global engineering, business and technical services provider to the fossil fuel and energy industry. (NB not to be confused with Lloyds of London insurance, which features in Part 2 below.)

 

TechnipFMC

1 St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, EC4M 8AP

Source: https://www.technipfmc.com/en/where-we-operate/europe/united-kingdom

Major oil and gas services contractor, which provides everything from platforms to pipelines and refineries. Headquarters in London, Paris, and Texas. Has paid out over $500 million in various bribery cases involving Nigeria, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana.

Owners: listed on Paris and New York exchanges. The French government has a small 4% holding.

 

Valaris PLC

110 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 6EU

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07023598/filing-history

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Offshore oil drilling contractor based in London – the number one in the world by rigs managed (in 2018). It runs oil rigs for Total, Saudi Aramco and many others. Formerly known as Ensco Rowan.

1.3.2 Liquefied Natural Gas

 

The booming Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry involves plants cooling gas into a liquid form that makes it easier for shipping. The industry lobby seeks to present gas as a “transition fuel” that is less polluting than coal or oil – an argument to keep on depleting hydrocarbon stocks and pumping out greenhouse gases because the economy is not “ready” to give up its fossil fuel addiction. In addition to carbon emissions, LNG is linked to hazardous methane leakage. See this report by Global Energy Monitor for more information.

 

Angola LNG

5 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1HE

Source: https://www.angolalng.com/en/contact-us/

The Angola LNG project is one of the largest ever single investments in the Angolan oil and gas industry. It is a partnership between Sonangol, Chevron, BP, Eni and Total to develop Liquefied Natural Gas.

 

Cheniere LNG

Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BY

Source: https://www.cheniere.com/contact-us/

International energy company which is the leading producer of Liquefied Natural Gas in the US.

 

Nigeria LNG

Heron House, 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H ODX

Source: http://www.nlng.com/Our-Company/Pages/Our-Locations.aspx

Main Nigerian liquefied natural gas-producing company with a plant on Bonny Island, Nigeria. It is owned by a consortium of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (49%) and several oil majors: Shell (25.6%), Total (15%) and ENI (10.4%).

 

1.3.3 Oil shipping and gas pipelines

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)

4 Thomas More Square, Thomas More Street, London, E1W 1YW

Source: https://www.msc.com/gbr/contact-us/msc-london?lang=en-gb

The Swiss-headquartered MSC is the world’s second-largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity.

 

Euronav

1st Floor, 99 Kings Road, London, SW3 4PA

Source: https://www.euronav.com/en/contact/

An Antwerp based company, listed on the New York stock exchange, which operates the world’s second biggest oil tanker fleet (after China’s COSCO, which has a UK base in Felixstowe).

 

Teekay Shipping

86 Jermyn St, London, SW1Y 6JD

Source: https://www.teekay.com/offices/europe/london/

One of the world’s biggest shipping companies, specialised in oil and liquefied gas tankers. Ranked as 8th biggest oil tanker company by “Tanker Operator”.

 

Maran (MTM)

Manning House, 22 Carlisle Place, London, SW1P 1JA

Source: http://maranuk.co.uk/contact-us.html

One of the world’s top ten oil and liquefied gas tanker fleets, part of the empire of Greece’s biggest shipping owner John Angelicoussis.

 

Interconnector (Fluxys and Snam)

Interconnector (UK) Limited: 4th Floor, 10 Furnival Street, London, EC4A 1AB

Source: https://www.interconnector.com/

Interconnector is the company that operates the undersea gas pipeline between Belgium and the UK. It is owned 75/25 by two of Europe’s main gas infrastructure companies: Belgium’s Fluxys and Italy’s Snam. These are two of the four main companies identified by the European Network of Corporate Observatories (ENCO) as developing new gas pipeline infrastructure across Europe, including big environmentally destructive schemes piping gas across Southern and Eastern Europe; and also in lobbying heavily to entrench Europe’s reliance on gas. See: ENCO report and company profiles.

Owners: Fluxys is owned 75% by Publigas, a Belgian public sector inter-municipal holding company. The chairman is the former mayor of Ghent. Snam is a PLC with a major holding from the Italian state, other owners are large investment funds including BlackRock.

 

1.4 Non-fossil energy: nuclear, biomass, dams…

 

With pressure growing on the fossil fuel industry, many big energy companies are gradually – if much more slowly than their propaganda suggests – moving towards more “renewable” sources. But not all of these “green energy” solutions are by any means safe or environmentally harmless. Nuclear power, of course, is itself associated with tremendous ecological contamination. Hydropower, as practised by corporations seeking to maximise profits above all, often means mega-dam projects that displace human and other animal populations, divert water supplies, and devastate river-based ecologies. Another green-spun technology is biomass – which can include simply cutting and burning up forests before they even get the chance to turn into fossil fuels.

Some key sources and further information:

1.4.1 Nuclear

 

Electricite de France (EDF)

EDF Trading (Global headquarters): 3rd Floor, Cardinal Place, 80 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5JL

Source: www.edftrading.com/contact/our-offices

EDF is a French energy and electricity multinational. It is Europe’s largest nuclear power generator with 19 nuclear plants in France plus many more in the UK and across the world. It owns and runs all of the UK’s seven currently operating nuclear power plants. Its many other schemes include devastating dam projects that have met resistance from Brazil to Laos.

 

Vattenfall

1 Tudor St, London, EC4Y 0AH

Source: https://group.vattenfall.com/uk/who-we-are/contact-us

Swedish state-owned energy company which operates nuclear reactors in Sweden and Germany. Suing the German government over its decision to shut down nuclear plants following the Fukushima disaster. Also burns gas, coal, and biomass. Although its publicity focuses on wind and water, nuclear and fossil fuels remain its main energy sources.

Shareholders: Swedish government 100%

 

E.ON

E.ON Citigen CHP plant, 47-53 Charterhouse Street, London, EC1M 6PB

Source: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:k6IWx-v385wJ:https://jobs.eon.com/uk/job/London-Business-Administrator/582664601/; http://interengineeringlgbt.com/event/site-tour-e-citigen-combined-heat-power/;

German energy company which is also one of the “Big Six” UK energy supply companies, and has been one of the main companies pushing for continued use of coal-fired power here. Its nuclear subsidiary PreussenElektra operates three nuclear power plants in Germany. E.ON is also a shareholder in Enerjisa, owner of the Tufanbeyli coal fired power station in Turkey.

NB: E.ON’s UK head office is in Coventry – the address above is the site of its “hidden power station” providing “combined heat and power” to the Barbican and offices in the City of London (more info here). It is also home for E.ON’s “national district heating control centre”.

 

Enel

Enel X, 360-364 City Road, London, EC1V 2PY

Source: https://evcharging.enelx.com/eu/support-eu/contact

Major Italian energy multinational. It owns stakes in nuclear power plants in Russia, France, Spain and Italy.

NB: This office belongs to its smaller UK business Enel X, which provides “energy solutions” to businesses and “smart city” technology projects.

 

See also: RWE, in the mining section

Not in London: Urenco (based in Stokes Poges); Horizon Nuclear Power (based in Gloucester)

 

1.4.2 Biomass

 

Drax Group

3rd Floor, Alder Castle, 10 Noble Street, London, EC2V 7JX

Source: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/142569

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/30/eco-activists-barricade-london-office-fossil-fuel-company-discover/

NB: this London address was confirmed as of July 1999 only. Drax’s registered address is at the Drax power station in Yorkshire.

Drax in North Yorkshire was the last big coal-fired power station built in the UK, completed in 1986, and privatised in the 1990s. As opinion turned against coal, Drax Group moved to burning wood – mostly shipped in from the forests of North America. According to Biofuelwatch, “Drax Power Station is the biggest burner of wood for electricity in the world and the UK’s single largest carbon emitter”. Drax is also now planning to convert its remaining coal-fired units to gas, and build additional new gas turbines, becoming “the biggest gas power station in Europe”. Drax has a busy corporate spin operation arguing that it can use Carbon, Capture and Storage (CCS) technology to become “carbon negative” by 2030. This includes its “Biofuel Energy CCS” (BECCS) technology, being developed with a company spun off by Leeds University’s School of Chemistry.

See also: dossier by Biofuelwatch on its #AxeDrax campaign.

Major shareholders: Invesco Limited (14%); Schroders plc (10%); Merian Global Investors (5%); Orbis Holdings Limited (5%); Blackrock (5%)

 

Active Energy Group plc

27-28 Eastcastle Street, London, W1W 8DH

Source: https://www.aegplc.com/contacts/contact-details/

Pollutant forestry-to-fuel biomass company, which has started operations in North Carolina. It calls itself “London’s only listed, combined, international biomass and forestry management business”.

Major shareholders: Gravendonck Private Foundation (18%); RG Spinks (4.5%); RM Derrickson (3%); InterTrade Ltd (3%).

 

AMP Clean Energy

1 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LD

Source: https://www.ampcleanenergy.com/contact-us

AMP provides biomass wood pellets and low carbon heat and power assets to the renewable energy industry in the UK.

 

Estover Energy Ltd

Central Working, Eccleston Yards, Eccleston Place, London, SW1W 9NF

Source: http://www.estover.co.uk/

Runs biomass power stations in Northumberland and Scotland, which have been met with local resistance (see p40 of this Biofuelwatch report).

 

Melton Renewable Energy Ltd (MRE)

33 Holborn, London, EC1N 2HT

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09194088

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”. MRE’s main base is in Suffolk.

MRE runs five biomass power stations located at Thetford, Ely, Glanford, Eye and Westfield, which generate electricity from the combustion of poultry litter, straw, meat & bone meal, horse bedding and – like Drax – forestry wood chips.

1.4.3 Dams: hydropower companies

Statkraft

41 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6PP

Source: https://www.statkraft.com/energy-sources/Power-plants/UK/

Norway-based Statkraft is one of Europe’s largest renewable energy companies, and calls itself Europe’s biggest hydropower electricity producer. It has wind farms and hydropower plants in the UK and globally. But not everyone welcomes Stakraft’s dam building schemes. In Chile, indigenous Mapuche people are resisting the construction of several hydropower plants in their territory, including on sacred sites.

Shareholders: the parent company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of trade.

 

See also: EDF, listed in Nuclear section above. And the construction section below for companies involved in dam building.

NB: not in the list: London does not have a large presence of hydropower companies. The world’s biggest dam generators are in China (above all, the massive Yangtse River Power Company) and the Americas, and do not have offices here. So far, river power is not a major source of energy in Europe – although this is set to change as major dam-building projects get underway, particularly in the Balkans.

 

1.5 Mining: metals and minerals

The mining industry is one of the dirtiest and most environmentally catastrophic, both in its scale and in its violence against people and planet. Mining uses huge amounts of water, often already in scarce supply. Mining operations inevitably involve the production of huge amounts of toxic waste, much of which finds its way onto cultivable land or into water sources. Waste is often stored in huge ‘tailing’ dams which then not infrequently collapse, spilling toxic sludge over whole communities, and destroying livelihoods. (See the London Mining Network’s useful explainer.) A recent dam collapse in Brazil, at a mine owned by Vale, caused 12 cubic metres of toxic tailings to be released, seeping into surrounding land and leading to the pollution of an estimated 300 km of water.

Companies greedy for valuable raw materials are likely to take shortcuts with environmental protections, if these even exist, and they ride roughshod over local needs. Violence against individuals and local communities is widespread, and may include forced evictions, as well as repression and murder of people who try to resist.

London is a major centre for the global mining industry. Many of the world’s mining giants are listed on the London, Stock Exchange, while the London Metals Exchange is the number one marketplace for industrial metals trading (See Part 2 on exchanges). The miners thus use London as a hub to raise finance, trade their products, and launder their profits.

The companies below have been selected on the basis of their size or number of operations, and on past records of environmental violence. Some key sources and further information: London Mining Network; Environmental Justice Atlas, The Rivers are Bleeding (War on Want)

NB: who’s not on the list: Some multinationals involved in coal mining – notably, Glencore and RWE – are listed below. However, the world’s very biggest coal miners are largely state-owned corporations – notably the massive Coal India Ltd, and the various Chinese coal companies – which do not have a presence in London. The world’s biggest private sector coal miner, US corporation Peabody Energy, has a “London” office that is actually in Guildford.

In terms of metals, notable companies without London offices include Anglo Gold Ashanti, Newmont Mining, and Eldorado Gold. Lonmin, the infamous London-based gold mining company involved in the 2012 Marikana massacre, has recently been bought by Sebanye Stillwater, based in South Africa.

 

RWE

60 Threadneedle Street, London, EC2R 8HP

Source: https://www.group.rwe/en/the-group/countries-and-locations/london

RWE is a major German energy company, notorious as Western Europe’s biggest coal burner. Its devastation of the Hambach forest near Cologne for open-cast coal mining continues to meet fierce resistance. RWE also has aggressive plans for burning millions of tonnes of wood – including in the UK, where it is planning to convert a second power station to biomass. Its biomass investment will mean more destruction of forests in Canada, the US and elsewhere.

Major shareholders: KEB Holding, Blackrock

 

Glencore

50 Berkeley Street, London, W1J 8HD

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/search?q=glencore https://architizer.com/projects/glencore-london-offices/

NB: reportedly will move to 18 Hanover Square, London W1S 1HD later in the second half of 2020.

Mining and commodities trading company, the world’s largest mining company by revenue. It is one of the world’s largest producers of zinc, copper and other metals, and also a major global coal miner. The company was formed from the merger of Glencore and XStrata in 2013: both have a terrible history of environmental fines, fatalities, health problems, dumping toxic assets, contamination of water, air, land. Glencore is part-owner of Cerrejon, a huge open-pit coal mine in Colombia (see Anglo American.) See: London Mining Network; EJAtlas.

 

 

Anglo American PLC

20 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AN

Source: https://www.angloamerican.com/sustainability/contacts

UK and South African multinational that is the world’s largest producer of platinum and a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore, metallurgical and thermal coal. Anglo American has violated indigenous land rights across the globe and polluted the water, agricultural land and air of many communities. It is co-owner (with Glencore and BHP) of the huge open-pit coal mine Cerrejon, in Colombia, where pollution and dust from the mine has caused contamination on a massive scale. In Brazil, it is facing strong opposition from local communities over its plan to expand a large tailings dam, the collapse of which would have horrific consequences. In the state of Chile, residents of El Melón are amongst those fighting its attacks on their land and water sources. See: London Mining Network. Also: EJAtlas company page.

 

BHP Group PLC

Nova South, 160 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5LB

Source: https://www.bhp.com/contact-us/

BHP is one of the world’s largest mining companies, with 30 operations in 13 countries. It is among the top 25 fossil fuel producers worldwide. It is the joint owner of the Cerrejon coal mine (see Anglo American), and was responsible for the massive Samarco dam collapse in 2015, which spilt 45 million cubic metres of mining waste into the Rio Doce and its tributaries. BHP’s proposed copper mine in Tonto National Forest in the US would destroy 3,000 hectares of public land, harm endangered species, and threaten massive water loss and contamination. See: London Mining Network; EJAtlas.

 

Rio Tinto

6 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4AD

Source: https://www.riotinto.com/en/footer/contact

Rio Tinto is a huge multinational metals and mining corporation. It is a world leader in the production of aluminium, iron ore, copper, uranium, coal, and diamonds. According to the Carbon Majors Database it was responsible for 0.75% of the world’s carbon emissions between 1988 and 2015. Its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine under development in Mongolia uses vast quantities of water in a desert region and poses a threat to pastoralist communities. In the USA, hundreds of premature deaths are blamed on air pollution from the Bingham Canyon mine: the single largest open pit mining operation and the deepest excavation of its kind in the world. See: London Mining Network; EJAtlas.

 

Vedanta Resources

30 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London, W1J 6EX

Source: https://www.vedantaresources.com/pages/reachus.aspx

Global diversified metals and mining company whose main products are copper, zinc, aluminium, lead and iron ore. Vedanta’s plans for an open-pit bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa, India, threatens the Dongria Kondh community, who have resisted with a ten year struggle. In Zambia, thousands of victims of pollution from a copper mining subsidiary of Vedanta have been seeking justice for over 15 years.

See also: Foil Vedanta website.

Owners: Majority owner is Chair and CEO Anil Agarwal. Around a third of Vedanta shares were formerly traded on the London Stock Exhange until 2018, when Agarwal bought them back and delisted the company.

 

ArcelorMittal Limited

7th Floor, Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6DA

Source: https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/site-services/contact-us

The world’s largest steel producer, also has iron ore and coal ore mining operations. Facing criminal charges and court cases over polluting activities in South Africa, Italy, Bosnia and Ukraine. Chairman and CEO is the billionaire Lakshmi Mittal.

Owners: the Mittal family owns 40% of the shares. Other shares are publicly traded, with many held by the usual global investment funds.

 

Nornickel

The St Botolph Building 138, Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AR

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04614811

https://www.nornickel.com/upload/iblock/592/event_28.12.15_49_prekrashhenie_engl.pdf

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

“[The Russian city of] Norilsk is one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world and Norilsk Nickel [now renamed Nornickel], a big mining and the metallurgical complex, is to blame for that […] The citizens experience noxious gases emitted from the mining and industrial activities, while even more extreme conditions of pollution are experienced daily by the workers in the mining and metallurgical complex. The pollution consists of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, phenol, and chlorine that have contaminated both air and water and therefore had an negative impact on local lakes and the fragile tundra ecosystem.” From: Environmental Justice Atlas.

 

Barrick Gold

1st Floor, 2 Savoy Court, Strand, London, WC2R 0EZ

Source: https://www.barrick.com/contact-us/default.aspx

Barrick Gold is the second largest gold mining company in the world. It has faced allegations of rape, murder, forced evictions, and other violent abuse. Its polluting history includes a massive one million liters of cyanide solution spilled into five rivers in Argentina, and subsequent cyanide spills shortly afterwards because of a failure to put in place improvements. Acacia Mining, a subsidiary of Barrick Gold, also has a history of violent abuses and was recently fined for pollution at a Tanzanian mine.

See also: Protest Barrick website; EJAtlas page.

Ownership: PLC (New York listing), largely owned by the big global investment funds.

 

Vale

Vale Europe Ltd: Suite 1, 3rd Floor 11-12 St. James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4LB

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00137114

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Brazilian mining giant Vale is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and nickel. It also produces manganese, ferroalloys, copper, bauxite, potash, kaolin, and cobalt, and operates nine hydroelectricity plants. Vale has had two catastrophic dam failures in Brazil: the first was in Mariana, in 2015, when 19 people were killed, whole villages were buried and thousands of people left homeless. In 2019, at least 65 people were killed when the tailings dam at Brumadinho collapsed.

See also: Environmental Justice Atlas company page.

Ownership: PLC listed on Sao Paulo, New York and other exchanges, largely owned by the big global investment funds.

 

Antofagasta

Cleveland House 33 King Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6RJ

Source: https://www.antofagasta.co.uk/contact/

Operates the Los Pelambres copper mine in north central Chile, which stores its tailings waste in the largest tailings dam in Latin America. It is located above the small town of Caimanes where residents are struggling with water shortages as a result of the dam built upstream. The company has been charged with numerous violations of its environmental permits and is responsible for many toxic spills in the Coquimbo region, including one where 13,000 litres of copper concentrate were dumped directly into the Choapa River.

See also: London Mining Network.

 

Fresnillo

Investor Relations office: 2nd Floor, 21 Upper Brook Street, London, W1K 7PY

Source: http://www.fresnilloplc.com/contacts/corporate-offices/

Largest silver ore producer in the world. The company operates eight silver and gold mines in Mexico, six of which have documented cases of serious violence or environmental impacts associated with them. For example, La Parreña, where the company is accused of contaminating a river by dumping toxic waste (copper sulphate) into the Milpillas stream which provides water for 1,900 hectares of agricultural production.

See also: War On Want.

 

Hochschild Mining

17 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PH

Source: http://www.hochschildmining.com/en/site_services/contact_us

Several local communities oppose mining exploration near the Inmaculada gold and silver mine in Ayacucho department in southern Peru, owned and managed by Hochschild Mining. Locals have demanded the withdrawal of the company whose operations threaten to contaminate the waters of the Huancute, Patarí and other rivers.

See also: War on Want.

 

Condor Gold PLC

22a St James’s Square, London, SW1H 4JH

Source: http://www.condorgold.com/contact

Condor Gold is a gold exploration company that operates mining projects in Nicaragua. Residents near the La India mine in Leon have challenged the company for failing to adequately consult them and for damaging community water wells during its exploration activities. In 2016, around 500 local residents protested against Condor Gold for allegedly attempting to evict them from their properties.

See: War on Want.

 

GCM Resources

3 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8YZ

Source: http://www.gcmplc.com/shareholders/contacts

London-based company behind the Phulbari open-pit coal mining project in Bangladesh. Formerly known as Asia Energy. The Phulbari mine would lead to the displacement of 230,000 people and massive environmental pollution. It is currently halted as a result of strong and sustained resistance by local people, with international solidarity in London and elsewhere,in the face of murderous repression.But GCM is still trying to restart the project.

See also: phulbarisolidarity.

 

1.6 Earth-killing infrastructure: engineering and construction

The energy and mining companies – including fossil fuels, nuclear and dams – do not act alone. They rely on major infrastructure support, including from the engineers who develop and support drillheads, pipelines, or nuclear reactors; and the construction companies who build their dams and power stations.

This section lists just some of the most prominent engineering and construction companies. It includes some global behemoths, and the top UK building firms that work on energy infrastructure and other big polluting projects such as motorway building. We also include a sub-section on cement production.

1.6.1 Energy conglomerates

 

We’re using this category for some big companies that have fingers in many pies: they could be listed in several sections.

 

Koch Industries

Koch Supply and Trading: 4th Floor, 20 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7JE

Source: https://www.ksandt.com/

The Koch family’s industrial empire includes oil refineries, chemical plants, fertilisers, paper mills, cattle ranches, commodities trading, investment funds … It might be quicker to list earth-wrecking activities they’re not involved in. They employ 130,000 people, just over half of those in the US but with a presence in 60 countries.

Owners: Koch family members. Koch Industries, with its many subsidiaries, is one of the world’s biggest privately owned companies. Charles Koch, and his brother David until his death in August 2019, have vigorously promoted their interests with large scale funding of an array of right-wing politicians and, above all, think tanks. Main agenda points have been climate change denial and opposition to environmental regulation or development of alternatives to fossil fuels, as well as union-busting and general free marketeering.

 

Noble Group

Office 6.01 Nova North, 11 Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BY
Source: https://www.noblegroupholdings.com/contact-us/

Noble Group is a Hong Kong-based commodities conglomerate. Subsidiaries include metals mining and trading, liquefied natural gas, shipping, oil rig contracting, and more. It was delisted from the Singapore stock exchange in 2018 after a major fraud scandal, with investigations ongoing, and has since restructured.

 

1.6.2 International engineering and construction giants

Siemens

Siemens Mobility Limited: 7th Floor, Euston House, 24 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1AD

The Crystal (Siemens offices and exhibition centre): 1 Siemens Brothers Way, Royal Docks, London, E16 1GB

Source: https://new.siemens.com/uk/en/company/about/siemens-uk-locations.html https://thecrystal.org

Giant German conglomerate best known for industrial electrical engineering and consumer electronics. Siemens is providing signalling for the Carmichael mine: Indian mining company Adani’s plan for the biggest coalmine in Australian history.

(NB: UK head office is in Frimley, Surrey.)

 

Bechtel Corporation

11 Pilgrim Street, London, EC4V 6RN

Source: https://www.bechtel.com/about-us/offices/

The USA’s biggest building company, largely focusing on major energy and infrastructure schemes across the globe. Its business units include “Mining and Metals”, “Oil, Gas & Chemicals”, and “Nuclear, Security and Environmental”. It’s hard to know where to start with a list ofBechtel scandals and devastating projects: from massive war profiteering with a $680 million Iraq war contract, through sub-par Nuclear waste facilities, to pushing up water prices in Bolivia. Alongside the daily business of building dams, coal mines, motorways, pipelines, liquefied natural gas plants, nuclear power plants, chemical weapons stores, etc. Bechtel is highly connected in US politics, with a record of executives serving as cabinet ministers.

See also: wikipedia page with many more links.

Ownership: remains controlled by the Bechtel family. Chairman and CEO Brendan Bechtel is fifth generation of the family in charge.

 

Vinci

VINCI Concessions UK: 1 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN

Morgan VINCI Ltd: 77 Newman Street, London, W1T 3EW

Eurovia UK (transport construction subsidiary): 26 Store Street Fitzrovia Lane, London, WC1E 7BT

Taylor Woodrow (UK construction subsidiary): 286 Euston Road, Euston Tower Level 33, London, NW1A 3DP

Source: https://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/en/locations/pages/region_greater_london.htm

Massive French construction multinational, with numerous brands and subsidiaries, involved in a long list of devastating projects. It makes its biggest profits running much of the French toll-paying motorway system. Planned developer of the Notre Dame des Landes airport in western France, which was scrapped in 2019 after an epic campaign of resistance including the long-running ZAD land occupation. Accused of using forced labour in Qatar, bulldozing migrant camps in Calais, and engaging in corruption and massive environmental destruction in Russia’s Khimki Forest motorway scheme. See Corporate Watch company profile (from 2017). Recently, its subsidiary Spiecapag is involved in the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia, which is being vigorously resisted.

Owners: French PLC. Its biggest owners include BlackRock and the government of Qatar, amongst many other global investment funds.

 

1.6.3 UK big builders

Balfour Beatty

5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU
Source: www.balfourbeatty.com/contacts/

Balfour Beatty Investments: 350 Euston Road, Regent’s Place, London, NW1 3AX

Source: http://www.balfourbeattyinvestments.com/company/about.aspx

Major British building company focusing on big infrastructure. Heavily involved in road building, and one of the main contractors in the UK’s white elephant HS2 rail scheme. Infamous for its record of trade union blacklisting. Also responsible for dams in Asia and Africa – was involved in early plans for Turkey’s Ilisu dam, but later pulled out after large scale protests.

 

Kier Group

33 Foley Street, London, W1W 7TL

Source: https://www.kier.co.uk/contact/our-locations/?area=london&id=3545

Major UK construction company. Works on energy infrastructure – including nuclear – and road building, as well as house building. Another of the big UK builders involved in the infamous union-busting blacklist.

 

Sir Robert McAlpine

4th Floor, 63 St Mary’s Axe, London, EC3A 8AA

Source: https://www.srm.com/office-locations/london/

Major UK construction and civil engineering firm which works on oil and gas, nuclear, dams, chemical and mining sectors as well as other high-profile building schemes. It was the main building company responsible for setting up the “Consulting Association” union-busting blacklist scheme.

 

Morgan Sindell

Kent House, 14-17 Market Place, London, W1W 8AJ

Source: https://www.morgansindall.com/contact-us/

Major British construction and engineering firm. Its infrastructure division works on nuclear and defence infrastructure, including at the Faslane nuclear submarine base. It also has a sideline in prison building.

 

Amey UK

10 Furnival Street, London, EC4A 1AB

Source: http://tpt.amey.co.uk/contact-us/

Sixth in the list of UK construction companies, Amey is also well known for engineering services and “facilities” management to the energy industry, road maintenance, airports, and more. It also maintains 61 British prisons, and has gone further into the profitable “justice” business with its GEOAmey prisoner transporting joint venture. Also known for cutting down thousands of trees in Sheffield as part of its PFI deal with the council.

Owner: bought by Spanish building company Ferrovial.

1.6.4 Cement producers

 

Cement is a massively destructive product: according to the Chatham House think tank, it is responsible for 8% of CO2 emissions. Concrete production is also linked to extensive soil erosion, water pollution and flooding.

None of the major cement producers are based in London. The biggest of all are based in China and serve that country’s massive construction industry. The UK’s cement needs are served by multinationals which largely have centres outside the capital: LafargeHolcim’s UK plant is in Leicester; Heidelberg’s building subsidiary Hanson is based in Maidenhead; and the Mexican giant Cemex has a UK HQ in Rugby. Below we list offices for a subsidiary of one other major cement producers.

 

CRH (Tarmac)

Tarmac: Level 4, 40 Strand, London, WC2N 5RW

Source: http://tarmac.com/location-finder//find-a-site?location=London

CRH is the 7th largest cement multinational. It is an Irish registered company, listed on the London Stock exchange. In the UK, it is best known as the owner of Tarmac. CRH has been involved in several alleged corruption controversies in Ireland and Poland.

 

1.7 Agribusiness

 

Corporate agriculture has become infamous for its negative effect on the planet and the climate. The list for this sector is thinner – London is not a hub for agribusiness companies in the same way as hydrocarbons or mining. UK agribusiness tends to be regionally based: e.g., Bernard Matthews’ famous Norfolk poultry farming, or fishing fleets in coastal ports. A major exception, listed below, is the giant of ABF.

The biggest global agricorps are US companies (particularly for soya and meat), with East Asia cornering the palm oil and sea food industries. The world’s largest chemical fertiliser giant – also Europe’s biggest buyer of natural gas – Yara, is a Norwegian company with no London base (see Corporate Watch profile). We’ve also included in this section major global food companies that are key customers of the big agribusiness corps, and in some cases also run their own agro-industry supply chains.

 

ABF (Associated British Foods)

Weston Centre 10 Grosvenor Street London, W1K 4QY
Source: www.abf.co.uk/m/contact-us

British consumer and agribusiness conglomerate. It owns household brands including Ovaltine, Ryvita, Twinings tea, and many more. Agribusiness division AB Agri is involved in animal feed, biofuels, and other products in the UK and China. Its AB Sugar division is one of the world’s biggest sugar empires, including Silver Spoon (which buys almost all UK sugar beet), Ilovo Sugar in southern Africa, Azucarera in Spain, AB Sugar China, and other companies. According to the World Wildlife Fund: “The cultivation and processing of sugar produce environmental impacts through the loss of natural habitats, intensive use of water, heavy use of agro-chemicals, discharge and runoff of polluted effluent and air pollution.” On top of all that, ABF also owns the infamous Primark clothing chain, renowned for miserable labour conditions and the death of over 1,000 people in the Rana Plaza factory collapse.

Owners: 55% owned by Wittington Investments, other shares publicly traded.

 

Cargill

3rd Floor, 77 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AY
Source: www.cargill.co.uk/en/london-location

The largest privately held company in the world, Cargill is regarded as one of two companies most closely linked to Brazilian deforestation for its soya destined for the livestock industry. Besides Amazon destruction, it is also involved in UK mega factory farms, is one of the world’s biggest traders in palm oil, and is tied to rainforest destruction in South East Asia, deforestation in West Africa and child slavery. Cargill has more than 60 subsidiaries.

Owners: The Cargill-Macmillan family, one of the wealthiest in the US, reportedly own over 85% of the company.

 

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

ADM Investor Services International Limited: Millennium Bridge House, 2 Lambeth Hill, London, EC4V 3TT
Source: www.admisi.com/contact

ADM is a major US food processing company dealing in Amazon soya, palm oil and biofuels, among other commodities. Prior to joining ADM, the company’s CEO Juan R Luciano spent 25 years at Dow Chemical. He also sits on the board of directors of pharma giant Eli Lilly and palm oil plunderers Wilmar International. ADM have various joint ventures and a history of cooperation with Wilmar. NB: the London office belongs to ADMSI, an investment brokerage subsidiary.

Owners: listed company, owned by big investment funds including Vanguard, as well as State Farm Investment Management Corp.

 

Louis Dreyfus Trading

The Crane Building, 22 Lavington Street, London, SE1 0NK
Source: https://www.ldc.com/global/en/about-us/locations1/

An enormous agribusiness covering all parts of the supply chain, involved in Amazon soya. A subsidiary of the Dutch-based Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC).

Owners: billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus whose family trust Akira now owns over 95% of the holding company.

 

Olam International

New Zealand House, 80 Haymarket London, SW1Y 4TE

Source: https://www.olamgroup.com/contactus.html

Singapore-based company and major producer of cash crops, particularly palm oil. Olam is engaged in massive deforestation and has been accused of serious human rights abuses. Allegations include razing an area of pristine forest in Gabon the size of Washington DC for its rubber plantations and driving land grabs and evictions in Laos.

Owners: Olam’s largest shareholders are Temasek Holdings and Mitsubishi Corporation – Singaporean sovereign wealth fund and Japanese bank.

 

Unilever plc
Unilever House, 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DY
Source: https://www.unilever.com/contact/unilever-registered-offices/

Massive Dutch-British consumer goods company which owns numerous household food and cosmetics brands, and has a long record of environmental scandals. Major users of palm oil, connected to rainforest clearances in South East Asia and West Africa, as well as to child labour. Also identified by Break Free from Plastic as one of the world’s top ten plastics users.

 

Tata Group
18 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7HS
Source: www.tata.com/contact-us#

Massive Indian multinational conglomerate with over 700,000 employees. It could feature in a number of sections: various divisions own coal mines, power plants, steel mills, hotel chains, one of the word’s biggest IT companies, Jaguar Landrover cars, and a massive list of household consumer products. Tata Global Beverages, which includes the Tetley tea brand, is one of the world’s biggest tea and coffee plantation owners. Tata’s iron works, chemical plants, and plantations have been connected to land grabs, police shootings, pollution incidents, workers’ disputes, and more.

See also: Wikipedia, Environmental Justice Atlas.

Owners: Tata family. The majority of shares are owned by the Tata Sons holding company, which in turn is owned by family trusts. The family business goes back to the 1860s, when it was involved in the opium trade. Some Tata subsidiaries have a minority of shares traded in the open market.

 

Burger King

4th Floor, 2 Fouberts Place, W1F 7PA
Source: www.burgerking.co.uk/privacy

Huge global meat user. A major customer of Cargill. In a 2016 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, BK scored a zero for failing to make any notable progress round the issue of deforestation. The company has since pledged to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain – by 2030!

Owners: the parent company is a Canadian holding company called Restaurant Brands International (RBI), 32% of which is owned by Brazilian private equity fund 3G Capital; another major shareholder is Morgan Stanley (see the banks section in Part 2.)

(NB: many of the same points could be made about McDonalds as Burger King. The only reason we don’t include them is because the London office is outside our map area in East Finchley.)

1.8 Plastics and other chemical polluters

 

Like agribusiness, the chemicals industry does not have the same presence in London as hydrocarbons or mining. Only two of the global top ten plastics producers have offices in the city. Dow DuPont, the world’s biggest chemical company and number one plastics producer, notorious for the Bhopal disaster, is about to set up its UK and Ireland base in a “state-of-the-art business park” in Stockport. The second biggest UK-based company, Linde, has its HQ in Guildford, Surrey.

 

BASF

BASF Metals Limited: 21st Floor, Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AY
Source: https://www.basf.com/gb/en/who-we-are/BASF-in-the-United-Kingdom/BASF-Metals-Limited–BML-.html

BASF is the world’s second largest chemicals company (after the merged Dow Dupont). It is among the biggest manufacturers of plastics and of pesticides and also has a biotech arm, BASF Plant Science. (NB: The London office belongs to its Metals division.)

 

Ineos

Ineos HQ: 38 Hans Cres, London, SW1X 0LZ
Source: www.ineos.com/contact/

Ineos oil and gas: Anchor House, 15-19 Britten St, London, SW3 3TY, UK
Source: www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-oil–gas…/

Ineos is the UK’s biggest chemical company, and the world’s fifth biggest. It operates through dozens of subsidiary companies. The Petroineos joint venture with China’s state oil company CNPC is Europe’s biggest oil refiner. Its flagship base is Grangemouth, which is “home to Scotland’s only crude oil refinery and produces the bulk of fuels used in Scotland.” Ineos’ “Dragon Ship” LNG tankers ferry US shale gas to the site. Ineosalso has its own oil and gas exploration arm, well known for its attempts to start fracking in the UK, which has bought up the majority of shale gas exploration licenses here.

See also: detailed company profile from Spinwatch / Powerbase; new Corporate Watch profile on Ineos’ billionaire owner Jim Ratcliffe.

Owner: billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, listed as Britain’s richest person by the Sunday Times Rich List 2018, founded the company and still owns 60%. Ineos is one of the UK’s biggest privately held companies (as opposed to listed PLCs).

 

Lyondellbasell

4th Floor, One Vine Street, London, W1J 0AH

Source: https://www.lyondellbasell.com/en/london-office/contact-us/

Major chemical multinational, registered in the Netherlands but with a London HQ. It is a plastic specialist, the world’s third biggest plastics producer. It describes itself as the leading US and European producer of polypropyenes – one of the plastics widely used in packaging responsible for massive environmental pollution.

Owners: PLC, listed on New York SE.

 

Coca-Cola

1A Wimpole St, London, W1G 0EA
Source: https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/about-us/contact-us

We include Coca Cola here as the world’s number one plastic consumer products polluter, according to Break Free From Plastic. There are plenty of other environmental and human scandals linked to the company, from groundwater depletion in India to support for Apartheid South Africa or the Israeli far-right.

NB: Pepsico’s UK office is in Berkshire.

2. Secondary planet-killers

2.1 Banks

The City of London is one of the world’s main finance hubs, second only to New York. It is particularly important as a trading and money laundering centre for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA, in bankers’ jargon), and for oil and other “commodities”. Three of the world’s major investment banks have their headquarters here: HSBC, Barclays, and RBS. And all of the other big global banks have London offices.

Banks play an essential part in ecocidal capitalism, channelling the money that companies need to develop new projects. Their key roles include:

  • Lending money directly to companies – in big cases, these may be multi-million dollar “syndicated loans” involving “syndicates” of numerous banks.
  • Arranging for other investors to put their money into companies through bonds and shares.
  • Trading these bonds and shares.
  • Helping companies arrange takeovers, buy-outs, property sales, and other corporate deals.

This section lists: first, the state-owned Chinese “Big Four” banks; then, the top 10 global investment banks, as well as other notable multinational investment banks. All of them, without a single exception, are involved in funding the fossil fuel drillers, coal diggers, forest clearers, river foulers, and other earth-wreckers – including the companies listed in Part 1, and many more.

The Chinese state-owned banks have been largely focused on financing China’s rapid industrial growth – including the country’s massive coal industry, which accounts for much of the worldwide production of the dirtiest of fuels. Increasingly, they are also becoming involved in deals across the globe. They are leading players in the industrial exploitation of Africa and other regions where China is increasingly replacing the “West” as main neo-colonial power.

But, for now, the US, European and Japanese multinationals are still the biggest of all fossil fuel funders. According to research by the Rainforest Action Network, Banktrack, and other partners, the world’s top 33 private sector banks have pumped $1.9 trillion into financing fossil fuels since 2016. And London is where many of these deals are done.

Key sources and further reading:

 

2.1.1 China’s Big Four

ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)

ICBC (London), City Branch: 81 King William Street, London, EC4N 7BG
Chinatown Branch: 81-85 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DX

Source: https://www.icbc.com.cn/ICBC/EN/PersonalFinance/CrossborderFinancialServices/OverseasFinancialService/ICBCLondon/

By one metric, the biggest bank in the world, holding assets of over $4 trillion, mostly thanks to its key role in China’s huge economy. It is the third largest funder of global coal mining. Involved in funding the massive Gilgel Gibe III dam in Ethiopia, “Africa’s most destructive dam”. Rapidly expanding its reach beyond China, ICBC now lends to coal mining projects in Turkey, Vietnam and Kenya, and even to pipeline projects in North America, including the highly contested Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

Owners: 75% owned by Chinese government via Ministry of Finance and Central Huijin Investment company. 25% of shares are traded publicly on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

 

China Construction Bank

111 Old Broad Street,London, EC2N 1AP

Source: http://www.uk.ccb.com/london/en/index.html

One of the world’s biggest banks and the biggest financer of coal mining. Active in deals across Asia, Africa and beyond, including many environmentally destructive infrastructure projects.

Owners: majority owned by Chinese government (including through state-owned Central Huijin Investment company). Shares listed on Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

 

Agricultural Bank of China

7/F, 1 Bartholomew Lane, London, EC2N 2AX

Source: http://www.uk.abchina.com/en/contact_us/

One of the world’s biggest banks and the fourth biggest funder of global coal mining.

Owners: largely owned by Chinese government (including 40% through state-owned Central Huijin Investment company). Shares listed on Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

 

Bank of China

2 Lothbury, London, EC2R 7DB

Chinatown branch: 107 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DA

Source: https://www.bankofchina.com/uk/aboutus/ab3/201110/t20111003_1578162.html

One of the world’s biggest banks and the second biggest funder of global coal mining.

Owners: majority owned by Chinese government (including 64% through state-owned Central Huijin Investment company). Shares listed on Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

2.1.2 Top 20 multinational investment banks

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

Ropemaker Place, 25 Ropemaker Street, London, EC2Y 9AN

Source: https://www.bk.mufg.jp/global/globalnetwork/emea/london.html

One of the world’s biggest banks and the biggest in Japan, with $2.8 trillion dollars of assets to its name. Seventh in RAN’s list of “top investors in climate change” list, and sixth biggest funder of coal power plants.

 

JPMorgan Chase

25 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5JP

Source: https://www.jpmorgan.com/country/US/EN/jpmorgan/disclosures/uk_entities_jul2012

The world’s biggest funder of fossil fuels and the biggest of all the US-based banks. According to the Rainforest Action Network list, in the last three years it has lent $196 billion to the fossil fuels industries. It is the leading financier of Arctic oil and gas exploration, deepwater drilling projects, and the second biggest funder of fracking worldwide. Besides lending money and arranging deals as an investment bank, JP Morgan is also a major fund manager and shareholder, managing $2.1 trillion.

 

HSBC

8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HQ

Source: https://www.hsbc.com/who-we-are/contact-us?countryid=GB&tab=Offices

The biggest UK-based bank and a top ten investment bank. Also one of UK’s biggest investment fund managers. Thirteenth in RAN’s list of massive global fossil fuel funders. Frack Off names it as one of the fracking “bad guys” for lending £63 million to Dart Energy, of whom it has been a shareholder, and providing banking services to Cuadrilla. HSBC invested $7 billion in coal between 2005 and 2014, and continues as the biggest UK coal financer since 2015. It is accused by Greenpeace of funding massive deforestation of the Indonesian rainforest for palm oil production. In other news, HSBC has been repeatedly caught involved in large scale money-laundering schemes: to name one example, it was fined $1.9 billion (or “about five weeks’ profits”) by US authorities in 2012 for laundering blood money for the Mexican drug cartels. As has been pointed out, this business line could be traced right back to the bank’s historical links with the 19th century British opium trade.

 

Citigroup

Citigroup Centre, 33 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5LB

Source: https://www.citigroup.com/citi/about/countries-and-jurisdictions/united-kingdom.html

Citi is one of the world’s top ten investment banks, and is third in the RAN “top investors in climate change” list. Besides oil and gas investment, it is the main non-Chinese funder of the global coal industry. It is a funder of the Dakota Access and other pipeline projects. It lends money and underwrites bonds for numerous companies on this map, including the likes of RWE, Saudi Aramco, or Vale.

 

Goldman Sachs

Plumtree Court, 25 Shoe Lane, London, EC4A 4AU

Christchurch Court, 10-15 Newgate Street, London, EC1A 7HD

Source: https://www.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/locations.html

The “giant vampire squid”: extremely powerful investment bank known for the global politicians who have been on its payroll, its role in the 2008 “sub-prime” crash, and a multitude of further scandals. One of biggest ten global investment banks. Provided $59 billion to the fossil fuel industry in 2016-2018, putting it twelfth on RAN’s list. Significantly linked to Amazon deforestation through its investments in beef producers JBS and Marfrig.

 

Bank of America

Financial Centre, 2 King Edward Street, London, EC1A 1HQ

Source: https://www.bofaml.com/content/boaml/en_us/contactus.html

Another massive US multinational, one of the biggest ten global investment banks. Also a major fund manager with $1.13 trillion Assets Under Management. Comes fourth in the RAN overall fossil fuel funders list, and third on fracking and deepwater exploration. Provided half a billion dollars in credit to Minerva foods, implicated in severe Amazon desforestation. Has funded Adani, RWE, Wilmar, and many more earth wreckers.

 

Wells Fargo

33 King William Street London, EC4R 9AT

Source: https://wellsfargocapitalfinance.com/uk/contact/

Another massive US multinational, one of the top ten global investment banks. The world’s biggest investor in fracking, and second overall (after JP Morgan) in RAN’s list of banks financing the fossil fuel industry.

 

Morgan Stanley

25 Cabot Square, Canary Wharf London, E14 4QA

Source: https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices/europe-middle-east-africa/united-kingdom

One of biggest ten global investment banks, and number 11 in the RAN list of top fossil fuels funders. One of the top investors in ultra deepwater oil and gas companies. Also a top global fund manager with $1.6 trillion assets under management.

 

Barclays

5 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf London, E14 4BB

Source: https://www.investmentbank.barclays.com/contact-us/gb.html

Second biggest UK-based bank, and the number one European investor in fossil fuels. One of the biggest ten global investment banks. Investor in UK fracker Third Energy, which is 97% owned by Barclays Natural Resource Investments, a private equity arm of the bank. Financed Olam, responsible for deforesting approximately 20,000 hectares of forest inside its Gabonese oil palm plantations since March 2012.

 

Credit Suisse

1 Cabot Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4QJ

Source: https://www.credit-suisse.com/us/en/investment-banking/contact-us.html

Major Swiss bank, one of the top ten global investment banks. Also a major global fund manager with $1.43 trillion. Provided $57 billion of investment into fossil fuels in 2016-2018. Linked to financing Halcyon Agri, whose operations have been described as the “the most devastating new forest clearance for industrial agriculture in the Congo basin.”

 

Deutsche Bank

1 Great Winchester Street, London, EC2N 2DB

Source: https://www.db.com/unitedkingdom/

Germany’s biggest bank, and one of the biggest ten global investment banks. Also a major fund manager managing $1.36 trillion. The second largest financier of Arctic oil and gas. Invested $14 billion dollars in fossil fuels globally in 2018. Implicated in deforestation in Brazil through its $11 million shareholding in JBS. One of the funders of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Involved in multiple money-laundering, tax evasion and fraud scandals: its $10 billion Russian mafia money laundry, for which it was fined by US authorities in 2017, is just one of the best known cases to come to light. Longstanding financial backer of Donald Trump. One of the main banks responsible for the CDO bubble that initiated the 2008 financial crash. Going further back, Deutsche was a major profiteer from the Third Reich, including its “aryanisation” and slave labour programmes, and helped fund the construction of Auschwitz.

 

Royal Bank of Canada

RBC Europe Limited: Thames Court Office, One Queenhithe, London, EC4V 3DQ

and: Riverbank House, 2 Swan Lane, London, EC4R 3BF

Source: https://www.rbccm.com/en/offices/europe.page

Canada’s biggest bank, and one of biggest ten global investment banks. RBC is the biggest funder of the Canadian tar sands exploitation. Also funds contested pipelines in Canada and the US, as well as illegal settlement activity in the Palestinian occupied territories.

 

UBS

5 Broadgate, London, EC2M 2QS

Source: https://www.ubs.com/uk/en/wealth-management/about-us.html

The biggest Swiss bank, one of biggest ten global investment banks. Also the world’s third largest investment manager with $3.2 trillion of assets managed. Provided the fossil fuel companies with some $25 billion in 2016-18.

 

BNP Paribas

10 Harewood Avenue, London, NW1 6AA

Source: https://www.bnpparibas.co.uk/en/contact/bnp-paribas-securities-services/

The biggest French bank and the world’s 9th largest bank by total assets. Provided $51 billion fossil fuels funding in 2016-18. Also a major investment manager with $1.21 trillion AUM.

 

Toronto Dominion

60 Threadneedle Street London, EC2R 8AP

Source: http://www.tdsecurities.com/tds/content/AU_WorldwideOffices?language=en_CA&language=en_CA

Canadian multinational investment bank. It is number 8 in RAN’s list of fossil fuel funders, and in particular is a major funder of tar sands – the second biggest after RBC, with $13.7 billion investment in 2016-18.

 

Scotiabank

6th Floor, 201 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3NS

Source: https://www.scotiabank.com/global/en/country/united-kingdom.html

Multinational which has been described as Canada’s most ‘international bank’ due to its overseas acquisitions. Though not one of the world’s very top banks, it punches well above its weight in terms of earth-wrecking: coming number nine in RAN’s list of fossil fuel industry funders.

Owners: PLC.

 

Mizuho

Mizuho House, 30 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7AU

Source: https://www.mizuhobank.com/uk/about/index.html

Major Japanese multinational investment bank, which comes number ten in the RAN ratings for banks funding fossil fuels.

 

Société Générale

1 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, E14 4SG

Source: https://www.societegenerale.co.uk/en/one-bank-street/

French multinational investment bank. The world’s second biggest funder of Liquefied Natural Gas (after JP Morgan Chase).

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)

250 Bishopsgate, Spitalfields, London, EC2M 4AA

Source: https://www.investors.rbs.com/multimedia-library/image-library/our-buildings.aspx

Third biggest UK bank, which operates under a number of brands including also NatWest and Ulster Bank. Back in 2007 it openly marketed itself as the “oil and gas bank”, and was a major funder of climate change. More recently, RBS has sought to win a “greener” reputation and claims to have now ended funding for Arctic drilling or new coal plants. Beyond the Arctic, though, RBS still funds fossil fuels, stating that “oil and gas will continue to play an important role in the overall global energy mix”.

NB: most investment banking operations are now branded as “NatWest markets”.

Ownership: bailed out by the UK government after the 2008 crash which became the main owner. The government has been selling its shares in batches, but is still currently the main owner with over 60%.

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/01/23/rbs-sell-london-hq-cost-cutting-drive-continues/

 

Standard Chartered

1 Basinghall Avenue, London, EC2V 5DD

Source: https://www.sc.com/uk/contact-us/

London-based international investment bank: though based in the UK, it only works on deals outside the country. Invested $15 billion in fossil fuels 2016-18.

2.1.3 Multilateral development banks

The “multilaterals” are financial institutions backed by the power and wealth of several states – as opposed to national banks owned by just one government. Their usual role is financing major infrastructure and development schemes. The best known is the World Bank, which lends money and arranges finance largely for “less developed” countries. These deals come with big strings attached – related to fostering free market capitalism, so “opening” new markets for global investors.

Besides the World Bank, there is a second tier of regional development banks which are big fish in their smaller ponds. London is home to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is a major actor pushing for privatisation and destructive infrastructure schemes, particularly in Eastern Europe.

 

The World Bank

Millbank Tower, 12th Floor, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP

Source: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/unitedkingdom

Based in Washington, this is the UK country office. Despite official statements, the WB continues to fund fossil fuel infrastructure.

 

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

One Exchange Square, London, EC2A 2JN

Source: https://www.ebrd.com/corporate-information/london-headquarters.html

(NB: will move to new HQ in Canary Wharf in 2022)

Headquartered in London, the EBRD was set up in 1991 by an alliance of governments and institutions with a specific aim: the rapid large-scale privatisation of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Soviet bloc. This achieved, it became a major infrastructure financier, still mainly focusing on the less-developed east. In the last five years the bank has presented itself as leading transition to the “green economy”, with over 40% of its investments dedicated to this. In one of these “green” schemes, the EBRD has become the main funder pushing an enormous programme of hydropower dam-building across the Balkans. As resistance grows, this is set to become a major battle for the European ecological future.

See also: Bankwatch.

 

European Investment Bank (EIB)

125 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AR

Source: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/contact/offices/ue/united-kingdom.htm

The lending arm of the EU, its shareholders are the member states. It has been a major funder of energy infrastructure projects such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. Now says it will end fossil fuel funding by 2022, to focus on a $1 trillion climate “transition” programme. This is will include conversion of coal plants to new fuels such as biomass. The HQ is in Luxembourg.

 

2.1.4 Smaller specialist banks

The banks above are some of the world’s biggest. Of course there are many others, involved in millions of earth-wrecking deals, and hundreds have locations in London. In this section we just name a few examples that have received attention for their work financing oil, mining and other primary planet-killing sectors.

Halkbank

Floor 1, 48 Dover Street, London, W1S 4FF

Source: https://www.halkbank.com.tr/en/International-Banking/92/foreign-branches

Halkbank is a Turkish state-owned bank, the seventh largest bank in Turkey. It is one of the three main banks financing the immensely destructive Ilisu dam project, which threatens to flood the ancient city of Hasnkeyf, displacing tens of thousands of mainly Kurdish people, and divert key water supplies to Iraq and Syria.

 

Garanti Bank / BBVA

BBVA UK: 44th floor, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AA

Source: https://www.bbvauk.com/meta/branches-and-atm/

BBVA is one of Spain’s biggest banks, which also has a major presence in Latin America. It also owns 49.85% of Turkey’s Garanti Bank, the country’s second largest privately owned bank. This is one of three main banks financing the immensely destructive Ilisu dam project, which threatens to flood the ancient city of Hasnkeyf, displacing tens of thousands of mainly Kurdish people, and divert key water supplies to Iraq and Syria.

 

Unicredit

Moor House, 120 London, Wall, London, EC2Y 5ET

Source: https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/worldwide/our-worldwide-presence/europe/united-kingdom/unicredit-bank-ag—branch.html

Unicredit is an Italian corporate and investment bank active across Europe. It has been identified by Bankwatch as one of the two main commercial banks (alongside the multilateral EBRD) financing devastating Balkan rivers dam projects.

 

Erste Group

24th Floor, 110 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AY

Source: https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000000MfFC8AAN; https://www.erstegroup.com/content/dam/at/eh/www_erstegroup_com/en/Corporates/london-branch-privacy-notice.pdf

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Austrian bank active in central and eastern Europe. It has been identified by Bankwatch as one of the two main commercial banks (alongside the multilateral EBRD) financing devastating Balkan rivers dam projects.

 

Macquarie Group

Ropemaker Place, 28 Ropemaker Street, London, EC2Y 9HD

Source: https://www.macquarie.com/uk/about/office-locations

Australian bank, the country’s largest investment bank. Specialises in infrastructure finance and is known for financing metals, bulk commodities (coal, iron ore, industrial minerals and uranium) and upstream oil and gas. Perhaps most notorious in the UK as the owner of Thames Water, which it saddled with an extra £2 billion of debt before selling on. Thames Water was fined £20 million for raw sewage dumps at six different sites in 2012-14 during Macquarie’s tenure.

 

RFC Ambrian

Octagon Point, 5 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6AA

Source: https://www.rfcambrian.com/index.php/contact/

Boutique energy bank which describes itself as the “global leading independent adviser and investor in the natural resources market, with a particular emphasis on metals and mining, oil & gas sectors and emerging technologies.”

 

Simmons Energy

13th Floor, 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7DA

Source: http://www.simmonspsc.com/2col.aspx?id=5284

Boutique oil and gas investment bank and energy securities trader with offices in Houston, London and Aberdeen. In 2018 it arranged deals involving Halliburton, Noble Energy, and many smaller oil and gas companies, as well as raising debt for an unnamed “private frac company”. Subsidiary of investment bank Piper Sandler.

Owners: a division of Piper Sandler.

Lambert Energy Advisory

4th Floor, 17 Hill Street, London, W1J 5LJ

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03838151

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Small investment bank which works on oil and gas deals. Described in the financial press as a “publicity shy London boutique” – it doesn’t have a website. The financial media present CEO Richard Lambert as a svengali figure making major behind-the-scenes deals – for example, arranging a £10 billion share deal between BP and Rosneft. He has particular Russian connections, having cut his teeth in the great Russian privatisation sell-offs of the 1990s.

 

Natrium Capital

10 Bloomsbury Way, London, WC1A 2SL

Source: https://www.natriumcapital.com/contact/location/

Boutique investment advisor, specialised in arranging M&A deals for chemicals and biotech companies.

 

The Valence Group

1st Floor, New Fetter Place, 8-10 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1AZ

Source: http://www.valencegroup.com/contact/

Boutique investment bank focusing on chemicals companies.

 

2.2 Investment funds

2.2.1 Top 20 Institutional Investors

Much of the world’s finance capital is controlled by “institutional investors”: fund management companies which manage the assets of pension funds, savings funds, insurance companies, and wealthy families and individuals. They funnel capital to companies by buying shares, also called “equity”. They also lend money, largely by buying bonds and other “debt securities” issued by companies.

The world’s top investment funds each control massive amounts of capital. They own shares and bonds of basically every major publicly listed company (PLC) in the world – as well as many unlisted ones. For this reason, in this section we don’t note particular companies the funds have invested in: you can safely assume they will have shares in many, or even all, of the listed companies named in Part 1.

In this section we list the top 20 global funds by “assets under management” – the amount of capital they control. (Except for those that are also major banks, and so already named in section 2.1 above.) All of these big funds have London offices.

See also: ADV Ratings list of investment managers by AUM.

 

BlackRock

12 Throgmorton Avenue, Drapers Gardens, London, EC2N 2DL

Source: https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/contacts-locations

The world’s biggest investment manager, managing over $6.5 trillion dollars worth of assets, with shares in pretty much every major listed company in the world. This makes BlackRock a massively powerful institution that influences every aspect of global capitalism. Based in the US, it is “the world’s biggest backer of fossil fuel companies”, according to the blackrocksbigproblem campaign.

 

Vanguard Group

25 Walbrook, London, EC4N 8AF

Source: https://www.institutional.vanguard.co.uk/portal/site/institutional/uk/en/contact-us

The second biggest global investor after BlackRock, managing $5.6 trillion. Largely an “index” investor that allocates funds to every major company on the world’s exchanges – including, of course, many of the biggest polluters.

 

State Street

20 Churchill Pl, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HJ

Source: https://www.ssga.com/global/en/about-us/who-we-are/overview.html

US bank and one of the world’s biggest investment managers, with $2.8 trillion assets managed.

 

Fidelity

4 Cannon Street, London, EC4M 5AB

Source: https://www.fidelityrecruitment.com/uk-ireland/our-locations/working-fidelity-uk

Major US-based global investment manager, with $2.7 trillion assets.

 

Allianz (and Pimco)

Pimco: 11 Baker Street, London, W1U 3AH

Source: https://www.pimco.co.uk/en-gb/account/registration

Allianz is a giant German insurance and financial services company, which also now owns Pimco – a massive global investment fund specialising in bonds. Pimco alone controls $1.8 trillion Assets Under Management, the bulk of the $2.4 trillion Allianz manages overall.

 

Capital Group

40 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7GG

Source: https://www.capitalgroup.com/about-us/office-locations.html#

US fund manager overseeing $1.86 trillion.

 

Bank of New York Mellon

160 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4LA

Source: https://www.bnymellon.com/emea/en/contact.jsp

US bank and fund manager overseeing $1.84 trillion.

 

Amundi (Credit Agricole)

41 Lothbury, London, EC2R 7HF

Source: https://www.amundi.co.uk/professional/About-Amundi/Amundi-London-Branch

French fund manager, part of the group of Credit Agricole bank. Has $1.6 trillion Assets Under Management.

 

AXA

AXA UK PLC: 5 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AD

Source: https://www.axa.co.uk/about/addresses/

French insurance giant and fund manager. Manages $1.6 trillion.

 

Prudential

Grand Buildings, 1-3 Strand, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5HR

Source: https://www.prudential.com/links/about/worldwide-locations/uk

US fund manager – not to be confused with the UK’s Prudential PLC (which is also in the list, below). Manages $1.5 trillion.

 

Legal & General Investment Management

LGIM: One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA

Source: https://www.lgim.com/uk/en/contact/

UK insurance company and fund manager. The biggest UK-based investor. Manages $1.32 trillion.

 

Northern Trust

50 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5NT

Source: https://locations.northerntrust.com/gb/london/50-bank-street

US fund manager overseeing $1.16 trillion.

 

Other UK-based funds in global top 50:

 

Prudential PLC

1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7AG

Source: https://www.prudentialplc.com/contacts/prudential-plc

UK insurer and fund manager (NB: don’t confuse with the bigger Prudential from the US). Manages $856 billion.

 

Insight Investment

160 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4LA

Source: https://www.insightinvestment.com/uk/

UK-based fund manager with $844 billion assets under management.

 

Standard Life Aberdeen

30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), EC3A 8BF

Source: https://www.standardlifeaberdeen.com/who-we-are/global-locations

Source: https://www.aberdeenstandardcapital.com/en/about-us/our-offices

UK fund manager, has $676 billion assets under management.

 

Aviva

St Helen’s, 1 Undershaft, London, EC3P 3DQ
Source: https://www.aviva.com/about-us/registered-address/

UK investment manager with $612 billion assets under management.

 

NB: these other top fund managers are listed above in section 2.1 on investment banks:

UBS Group

JP Morgan

Morgan Stanley

Credit Suisse

Deutsche Bank

BNP Paribas

Bank of America

HSBC

2.2.2 Sovereign Wealth Funds

These are investment funds owned by national governments, rather than the big pools of privately owned capital in the section above. In the past, national public-sector pension schemes accumulated major reserves of investment capital. Many of these are now privatised, and the term Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) is mainly used for funds accumulated by commodity-exporting nations from their foreign currency income.

These SWFs have boomed in the last couple of decades, reflecting a global wealth shift away from the consumer economies of the “developed world”, now sunk in debt, to exporting nations such as China and the Gulf oil states. These states accumulate more foreign currency from commodity sales than they invest or distribute at home. The difference builds up into SWFs, which are then invested overseas to buy up companies, property, and other resources. For example, in London, the very visible sign of this is the takeover of the city’s skyline by glass towers like the Shard – just one item in the Qatari SWF’s property portfolio.

While the global investment funds above spread their assets over thousands of companies, the SWFs are often more focused – buying big chunks of particular companies, or massive infrastructure and real estate schemes.

See: SWF Institute website list of funds by AUM

NB: not in the list: not all the big SWFs have London offices. The second biggest, China Investment Corporation (CIC), with $940 billlion, does not. The third biggest, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), closed its London office in 2015.

 

Norges Bank / Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (aka “Oil Fund”)

Norges Bank IM: Queensberry House, 3 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AE

Source: https://www.nbim.no/en/organisation/our-offices/london-office/

Norway’s massive oil reserve fund, administered by the state-owned Norges Bank Investment Management. The biggest SWF with just under $1.1 trillion in assets under management (AUM). It acts much like the big investment funds above – similar to BlackRock or Vanguard, it owns shares in almost all the world’s big listed companies. Although, with Norway’s social democratic record, Norges Bank’s investments have long been a contentious issue: and campaigns over the years have succeeded in getting it to divest from many arms manufacturers, coal miners, gold miners, and others. It still invests in many of the companies on this map, however.

 

Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)

Wren House, 15 Carter Lane, London, EC4V 5EY

Source: https://kia.gov.kw/contact-us/

Controls $592 billion of assets. Its London division, called Kuwait Investment Office (KIO), makes investments across Europe and beyond. This, in turn, has a subsidiary infrastructure fund called Wren House (after its HQ). Wren House’s portfolio includes Britain’s biggest port operator ABP, London City Airport, and North Sea Midstream Partners, which controls a “major chunk of North Sea energy infrastructure” in Scotland.

 

Temasek Holdings

23 King Street, London, SW1Y 6QY

Source: https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/contact-us

Singaporean SWF with $375 billion to spend. It has its European base in London. Temasek’s portfolio includes worldwide investments in oil and other energy companies, agribusiness and life sciences, industrials and transport, real estate, and more.

 

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA)

Qatari Diar: 16 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 4QF

Source: http://www.qataridiar.com/english/pages/contact-us.aspx

QIA is a major investor in many of the companies on our primary list. It is one of the biggest investors in mining giant Glencore, oil supermajor Total, French motorways and infrastructure giant Vinci, and many more. It also has large holdings in a number of global banks, notably Barclays. QIA plays a particularly important role for us as a major property owner in London. It owns 20% of Heathrow Airport, and a majority stake in the Canary Wharf Development Company – London’s biggest landlord, which owns the effectively privatised financial district. Some of its property is held through a subsidiary called Qatari Diar, a real estate investment fund which has bought further swathes of London from the Shard to the former Olympic Village.

 

2.2.3 Private Equity

 

Most investment capital is used by the big funds to buy shares in listed companies (“PLCs”), which are publicly traded on stock exchanges. Private equity firms, on the other hand, specialise in buying shares in companies through private deals. This can mean, for example, investing “venture capital” in start-up or smaller companies, or “buy-outs” to take over established firms. These funds are often secretive, with much less published information than for the giant fund managers above.

Private equity firms are typically smaller than the massive general investment funds – though the biggest ones will still control many billions of dollars. Here are the top five globally, plus a few other major ones (ranking from Private Equity International, based on capital raised over last 5 years.) See also 2.4.3 below for smaller specialist funds.

London is one of the world centres of the Private Equity industry. The big US firms all have offices in London, and are joined by many locally run funds which often focus on Europe, or “emerging” markets including Africa and the Midde East. While the big banks and general investors typically work from glass skyscrapers in the City and Canary Wharf, the private equity houses go for more discrete townhouses, often in Mayfair.

 

Blackstone Group

40 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 5AL

Source: https://www.blackstone.com/the-firm/our-offices

The world’s biggest private equity fund, according to PEI international. Headquartered in New York, it owns numerous well and less known companies and hotel chains. (NB: don’t confuse with BlackRock.) CEO Schwarzman is a major backer and adviser of President Trump. Its real estate division is infamous for its role in evictions and gentrification of cities, and has been targeted by resistance from Athens to Barcelona. Its Brazilian firms have been identified as “significantly responsible for the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest”.

 

Carlyle Group

1 St James’s Market, London, SW1Y 4AH

Source: https://www.carlyle.com/contact-us/worldwide-offices

US-based. World’s second biggest PE fund, according to PEI international rankings. Perhaps best known for its links to the Bush and Bin Laden families. It is one of the owners of Neptune Oil, a fast-growing oil company active in the North Sea, Africa and South-East Asia.

 

KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts)

Stirling Square, 7 Carlton Gardens, London, SW1Y 5AD
Source: https://www.kkr.com/our-firm/locations

US private equity fund, the world’s third biggest according to PEI international rankings. Infamous for its “asset-stripping” company buyouts in the 1980s and 90s. Its investment focuses include oil and gas companies and related infrastructure and real estate. Recently announced a major investment in the British Columbia Coastal GasLink pipeline which is being vigorously resisted by Wetʼsuwetʼen first nations people.

CVC Capital Partners

111 Strand, London, WC2R 0AG

Source: https://www.cvc.com/offices

The biggest UK-based PE fund, and the world’s fourth biggest, according to PEI international rankings. Its many investments across Europe, Asia and Americas include the UK’s biggest oil pipeline, and North sea oil company Neptune.

 

Warburg Pincus

Almack House, 28 King Street, London, SW1Y 6QW

Source: https://www.warburgpincus.com/london/

US based. World’s fifth biggest PE fund, according to PEI international rankings.

 

Bain Capital

Devonshire House, Mayfair Place, London, W1J 8AJ

Source: https://www.baincapital.com/locations

Founded by former US vice-president Mitt Romney (with other partners), known for its political links and for buying out and asset-stripping companies. World’s sixth biggest PE fund, according to PEI international rankings.

 

Oaktree Capital Management

Verde, 10 Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DH

Source: https://www.oaktreecapital.com/contact-us

Major global private equity and investment fund, controls over $100 billion of capital. It is notorious as the world’s biggest “distressed debt” or “vulture” fund – buying up the assets of crisis-hit countries and companies, then chasing them for repayment. It was a major profiteer from the European debt crisis, and recently involved in court cases to chase the debt of Puerto Rico. It also runs a $2 billion energy fund investing in oil tankers and more.

 

3i Group PLC

16 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5JD

Source: https://www.3i.com/site-tools/contacts/

One of the few private equity firms whose shares are traded publicly as a PLC. 3i is London based and is a member of the FTSE 100. Its investment focuses include energy and infrastructure.

 

2.2.4 Hedge Funds

 

“Hedge fund” is the label often given to more specialised or “alternative” investment funds. The term is pretty loose nowadays, and includes funds with a range of different strategies. Some main types include: “quant” funds which use computer algorithms to gamble on commodity prices or derivatives; “equity funds” which both buy and “short” shares, betting that the share price will fall; and “debt funds” which specialise in buying up or betting on the debts of companies and governments.

One group with particular notoriety are the “vulture funds” or “distressed debt” investors. These buy up the debts of countries hit by crisis and poverty on the cheap,, then do all they can to make a profit – for example, by chasing countries through the courts to seize their assets.

Although usually much smaller than the big “mainstream” investment funds, hedge funds can play an important role at the frontiers of capitalism. They often lead in creating new products and markets – finding ways to monetise and trade ever more of the world’s resources for profit. For example, as the climate crisis escalates, hedge funds find ways to profit by gambling on future oil and other commodity prices, carbon trading schemes, or even on “weather derivatives” and “catastrophe bonds”.

London is one of the main global centres for the hedge fund industry. Like the private equity funds, many tend to be clustered around Mayfair and the West End. In this section we list some of the biggest general hedge funds, where these all work on energy and other earth-wrecking sectors amongst other areas.

A list of hedge funds by Assets Under Management

A list of hedge funds with London operations

A “top 50” ranking

 

Man Group PLC

Riverbank House, 2 Swan Lane, London, EC4R 3AD

Source: https://www.man.com/contact

The world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund, and the biggest based in the UK. Its multiple funds gamble on pretty much anything from “natural catastrophe bonds” to real estate. It sponsors the Man Booker literature prize and an Oxford University research centre.

 

Brevan Howard

55 Baker Street, London, W1U 8EW
Source: https://www.brevanhoward.com/

One of Europe’s biggest hedge funds. It makes short term bets on commodities such as oil and metals prices, as well as currencies and more. Officially registered in Jersey and Cayman Islands tax havens. Sponsors financial analysis centre at Imperial College London.

 

Monarch Alternative Capital

1st Floor, 50-52 Welbeck Street, London, W1G 9HL

Source: http://www.monarchlp.com/contact/

US-based vulture fund which specialises in buying and chasing “distressed debt”. Involved in court case to chase debts from crisis-hit Puerto Rico. Another string to its bow is investing in coal: “In February 2017, it became the principal shareholder in Arch Coal, the second largest supplier of coal to power companies in the U.S. Arch Coal has been accused by United Mine Workers of America of conspiring with Peabody Energy in a scheme to default on $1.3 billion in retiree pension and healthcare obligations.”

 

Autonomy Capital

110 Bishopsgate, Floor 34, London, EC2N 4AY UK

Source: https://www.autonomycapital.com/contact/

US based hedge fund that is reportedly a big gambler on European carbon emissions. It is also known as a vulture fund speculating on debts of “emerging countries”. Involved in court case to chase debts from crisis-hit Puerto Rico.

 

Point72

8 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4JU

Source: https://www.point72.com/contact-us/

Global hedge fund of US billionaire Steven Cohen. Point72 is the successor to Cohen’s previous business SAC Capital Advisors, which closed down after being hit by a $1.8 billion fine for insider trading. It includes a fund specialising in energy investments.

 

Winton Capital

Grove House, 27 Hammersmith Grove, London, W6 0NE

Source: https://www.winton.com/contact-us

One of the biggest London-based hedge funds, a “quant fund” which uses maths-heavy data analysis and computer algorithms to speculate on commodities across the world. The associated David and Claudia Harding Foundation has given £100 million to Cambridge University.

 

Lansdowne Partners

15 Davies Street, London, W1K 3AG

Source: https://www.lansdownepartners.com/contact-us/

“One of London’s oldest and most secretive hedge funds”, according to the Financial Times. It is perhaps best known for betting on the collapse of Northern Rock during the financial crash, and also has an energy fund speculating on oil and other commodity prices. Current press statements say it is betting against oil and on renewables – but it will follow wherever the money leads.

 

Elliott Advisors

116 Park Street, London, W1K 6AF

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/02989338

Source: https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000000MfUxEAAV

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Infamous as a “vulture fund” which buys up and chases “distressed debt”. In particular, Elliott played a major role in suing the Argentinian and Peruvian governments for bond payments during the Latin American debt crisis. Other recent investments include buying football club AC Milan. Owned by Republican-backing US billionaire Paul Singer; the London office is run by his son Gordon. It also owns Waterstones, currently in dispute with its workers over the living wage.

See also: Corporate Watch investigation into Elliot and Waterstones.

 

GAM

8 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7GB

Source: https://www.gam.com/en/our-company/about-us

Swiss hedge fund mainly involved in gambling on bond markets, also has funds investing in energy companies.

 

Sculptor Capital

40 Argyll Street, 2nd Floor, London, W1F 7EB
Source: https://www.sculptor.com/about-sculptor/offices/london

Formerly called Och-Ziff, Sculptor is a global hedge fund founded by US billionaire Daniel Och. It is notorious for a 2016 corruption scandal where Och and his fund were accused by the US courts of paying over $100 million in bribesto secure natural resources deals in Libya, Nigeria, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

2.2.5 Smaller earth-wrecking specialist investors

 

This section lists smaller investment companies – including private equity, hedge funds, traders, and other “boutiques” – which specialise in energy, mining, and other primary earth-wrecking sectors.

 

Kerogen Capital

6th Floor, 50 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JH

Source: http://www.kerogencap.com/contact-us/

Private equity investor specialising in oil and gas companies, with bases in Hong Kong and London. Major investor in North Sea oil companies, and in Energean, the UK-Greek-Israeli company drilling wells and building pipelines in the Eastern Mediterranean.

 

EIG Global Energy Partners

20 St. James’s Street, 7th Floor, London, SW1A 1ES

Source: https://www.eigpartners.com/locations/london-uk

Specialist fund investing in oil and gas, pipelines, and “alternative energy”. Has $32 billion invested in 355 portfolio companies including a Brazil-Bolivia gas pipeline, coal and oilsands in Canada, biomass in Spain, and numerous oil drillers from Alaska to Africa.

NB: EIG also has a joint-venture subsidiary fund called Harbour Energy, jointly owned with Hong Kong’s Noble Group. This is based at the same address.

 

Red Kite Capital

1 Bartholomew Lane, London, EC2N 2AX

Source: https://www.rkminefinance.com/#contactSection

Specialised metal and mining investment fund run by former Conservative party treasurer, and evangelical Christian, Lord Michael Farmer – called “Mr Copper” for his exalted position in the copper trading business. Its RK Mine Finance fund has lent money to numerous metals and mining companies. Also in the business is Farmer’s son George, who has headed the UK branch of US rightwing propaganda organisation Turning Point.

 

Orion Resource Partners

33 Welbeck St, London, W1G 8EX

Source: https://www.orionresourcepartners.com/orion-mine-finance

Specialist metals and mining investment fund. Was previously part of Red Kite, spun off under its chief Oskar Lewinowski. Has invested in numerous mining companies including Dalradian.

See also: Corporate Watch investigation into Dalradian.

 

Riverstone

3 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4JU
Source: https://www.riverstonellc.com/#!contact/london-office

Private equity firm focused on energy companies, with nearly $39 billion of investments in companies worldwide. Investments include coal, oil drilling, biofuels, and much more. Invests in UK fracking firm Cuadrilla.

 

First Reserve

7th Floor, 25 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0EX

Source: https://www.firstreserve.com/contact

US-based global private equity firm focused purely on energy companies. Its portfolio includes numerous oil and gas ventures worldwide.

 

Northlander Commodities

Shearwater House, 21 The Green, Richmond, London TW9 1PX

Source: http://www.northlander-advisors.com/

A “UK fund with strong ties to the US”, specialised in energy trading. Reported to have “made as much as $125 million” by speculating on global heating through trading carbon emission credits.

 

Andurand Capital Management

100 Brompton Road, London, SW3 1ER

Source: http://www.andurandcapital.com/contact.html

London-based oil and energy trading hedge fund run by Pierre Andurand.

 

Appian Capital

5th Floor, 45 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JG

Source: https://appiancapitaladvisory.com/contact/

London-based private equity fund which invests solely in metals and mining.

 

Global Natural Resources Investments (GNRI)

4th Floor, 14 Curzon Street, London, W1J 5HN

Source: https://gnri.com/

Private equity firm with offices in London and Doha, invests in oil, gas and mining. Was a former unit of Barclays Bank bought out by its managers in 2015.

 

Arkesden Partners

7 Birchin Lane, London, EC3V 9BW

Source: https://www.arkesden.com/contact

Investment advisory and private equity firm working on oil, mining and other energy deals.

 

Helios Investment Partners

2nd floor, 12 Charles II Street, London, SW1Y 4QU

Source: https://www.heliosinvestment.com/our-investments/private-equity#list

London-based private equity firm set up to deal in Africa, including investments in African oil companies.

 

Commodities Traders

 

Mandara Energy

6 Broad Street Place, London, EC2M 7JH

Source: http://www.mandaracapital.com/#subpage-3

Specialist energy derivatives trader – i.e., makes bets for clients on oil and other energy prices. Bases in London, New York and Singapore.

 

OTC Europe LLP

5th floor, 10 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF

Source: http://www.otcgh.com/portfolio-of-companies/otc-europe/

Trading firm “specializing in over-the-counter energy physical and financial futures and options, including crude oil, gas oil, fuel, freight, and middle distillates”.

 

BB Energy

BB House, 12-14 Ansdell Street, London, W8 5BN

Source: http://www.bbenergy.com/contact/

Describes itself as “one of the world’s leading independent energy trading companies” and “one of the most active gasoil, gasoline, bitumen and fuel oil traders in the Mediterranean.”

 

NB other important companies not in London:

Bridgewater Associates, Renaissance Technologies, are the world’s two largest hedge funds by assets managed, neither have London offices. Nor does EnCap, a major oil and gas private equity fund.

2.3 Insurance companies

The insurance industry is a crucial cog in the earth-wrecking machine. Ecocide is a risky venture. Mines or wells fail to produce, ships sink. “Accidents” are a regular occurrence – involving not just loss of capital, but potentially multi-million dollar lawsuits and compensation payouts to the families of those maimed and killed. Governments may come under enough political pressure that they are forced to tighten regulations or even end exploitative contracts.

These risks are all just part of doing business. But one or two major incidents could sink an earth-wrecking company – if it wasn’t for the insurance industry. Insurers “pool risk”: collect premiums from all their customers to create large funds, which then pay out to those who get unlucky.

What this means is that major earth-wrecking schemes – e.g., a new oil well or coal mine – can’t even get started unless the operator has an insurance contract in place. And this creates a very significant point of “leverage” for those trying to resist.

For example, resistance to coal has pushed many big insurers to make statements about withdrawing from coal insurance. Looking at the small print, these statements are often pretty weak: e.g., Axa’s much heralded statement only talks about phasing out insurance to very big coal miners by 2040. Even so, this pressure is pushing up coal insurance premiums, so making it more and more expensive for miners to start new schemes. That is: campaigning against insurance companies is already stopping at least some new coal mines being dug.

London is one of the world’s great insurance marketplaces, arguably the birthplace of the modern commercial insurance system. Lloyds of London began as a coffee house meeting place where ship owners would hook up with rich “names” who would underwrite their colonial trading ventures. London’s insurance scene is still based around the current home of Lloyds, in the east of the City.

For more on coal insurance see: Unfriend Coal website from Greenpeace and others.

 

Allianz

60 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0HR

Source: https://www.agcs.allianz.com/global-offices/united-kingdom.html

Mega German-based insurance and financial services conglomerate: its fund management subsidiary Pimco features separately on this map. It is one of the world’s largest insurance businesses overall, and works with companies in all sectors including the onshore and offshore oil and gas industry.

 

American International Group (AIG)

The AIG Building, 58 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4AB

Source: https://www.aig.co.uk/contact-aig-uk

Massive US-based global insurance giant, infamously bailed out by the US government in the 2008 crash. It is the largest industrial insurer in the US, providing cover for the majority of big US industrial corporations, amongst many others. Its UK Energy division provides mining insurance, oil rig insurance, chemical and pharmaceutical insurance, and more. In January 2020, AIG confirmed that it will continue to insure coal, with CEO Brian Duperreault saying coal is “being taken out of the ground because people need it”.

 

Axa UK PLC

5 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AD

Source: https://www.axa.co.uk/about/addresses/

Major French-based multinational insurance firm. Provides insurance to onshore and offshore energy companies, including major oil companies. In November 2019 Axa announced that it would stop insuring companies which produce more than 20 million tonnes of coal per year … but only by 2030 for European companies, and 2040 for the rest.

 

Lloyds of London

1 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7HA

Source: https://www.lloyds.com/contact-us

Lloyds is not an insurance company itself, but rather an insurance marketplace. It is made up of numerous members, who come together in 90 plus “syndicates” to offer insurance cover. Lloyds’ historical roots are in marine insurance, and the shipping and energy industries are still important parts of the business. Lloyds says it does not have uniform underwriting policies because of its syndicate structure. According to “Unfriend Coal”, this means Lloyds is becoming the last place in Europe where coal miners can insure new mines.

 

Aon PLC

The Aon Centre, The Leadenhall Building, 122 Leadenhall Street, London, EC3V 4AN

Source: https://www.aon.com/unitedkingdom/contact-us.jsp

London-based insurance brokerage. Its energy and mining division works with all parts of the oil and gas industry, as well as mining companies, on products from oil rig insurance to “political risk”.

 

Beazley PLC

Plantation Place South, 60 Great Tower Street, London, EC3R 5AD

Source: https://www.beazley.com/contact_us.html

Specialist group of London insurers, a participant in the Lloyds insurance marketplace. Its energy division claims it insures over 30% of the world’s top 200 upstream and midstream oil and gas companies. Another of its specialisms is “political risk” insurance.

 

Chubb Ltd

The Chubb Building, 100 Leadenhall Street, London, EC3A 3BP

Source: https://www.chubb.com/uk-en/contact-us/locations.aspx

Chubb is a Swiss-headquartered global insurer which claims to be “the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurer”, and a “leading supplier” to the energy industry. It provides cover to downstream/onshore and upstream/offshore fossil fuels companies.

 

Lockton

The St Botolph Building, 138 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AG

Source: https://www.lockton.com/offices/uk

US insurance broker, one of the world’s biggest. It insures companies across the oil and gas supply chain. It claims to work with over 20 major midstream companies, in-process liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, and offshore Gulf of Mexico facilities.

Owners: still controlled by the founding Lockton family.

 

RFIB Group

12th Floor, 30 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8BF

Source: https://rfib.com/contact-us/

London-based specialist insurer. The energy division has offices in London, Bermuda, Dubai and Singapore. It claims to have “a portfolio of clients ranging from State owned energy companies through to independents” and “expert knowledge of exploration and development phases of oil and gas”.

 

Miller Insurance

70 Mark Lane , London, EC3R 7NQ

Source: https://www.miller-insurance.com/Contact/London

Miller works with companies in the upstream, midstream and downstream phases of fossil fuel production, in the renewable energy sector, and on major energy infrastructure construction projects.

 

QBE Insurance

Plantation Place, 30 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3BD

Source: https://qbeeurope.com/contact-us/

QBE says it has been supporting companies in the oil and gas sector for more than 30 years, including many of the world’s largest international and national oil companies, drilling contractors and service companies.

 

2.4 Other finance sector institutions

2.4.1 Auditors: the Big 4 accountancy firms

 

Company law requires companies’ financial accounts to be audited, checked by accountants who are certified and regulated by official bodies. The UK Register of Auditors shows 5649 firms listed. But only four really matter.

The “Big Four” are: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC). In the UK, they audited the accounts of every single FTSE 100 company in 2019, and 227 of the FTSE 250 (the 250 next biggest UK listed companies). In the US, their dominance is not quite so complete: they audited just over 50% of the biggest 3000 companies in 2018. As well as being by far the biggest accountancy firms in the world, the Big 4 also branch out into a range of other “consultancy” services to the business world.

There is endless debate about the need to regulate the accountancy market “cartel”, without much happening. The auditors have an incentive to sign off accounts without asking any awkward questions, in order to win not just more auditing contracts but other lucrative consultancy work.

All the Big 4 firms have been the subject of multiple scandals, collusion allegations, fraud and money-laundering inquiries, etc., which sometimes lead to prosecutions and fines. These are far too numerous to list here: web search and you’ll find plenty.

Technically, the Big 4 are not in fact companies, but “professional services networks” involving multiple local partners. This further inoculates them from legal come-back by scattering liability amongst the partner firms.

 

Deloitte

Main office: 1-3 New Street Square, London, EC4A 3HQ

Also: Hill House, 1 Little New Street, London, EC4A 3TR;

Buckley Building, 49 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0EB;

Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/footerlinks/office-locator.html

 

KPMG

Main office: 15 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5GL

Source: https://home.kpmg/uk/en/home/about/offices.html

 

PricewaterhouseCooper (PWC)

Main office: 1 Embankment Place, London, WC2N 6RH

Other office: 7 More London, Riverside, London, SE1 2RT

Source: https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/regional-sites/london/offices.html

 

Ernst & Young (EY)

Main office: 1 More Place, London, SE1 2AF

Also: 25 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5EY;

Tower Bridge Court, 226 Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1 2UP;

6 More London Place, London, SE1 2DA

154-164 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2DQ;

15 Adam Street, London, WC2N 6AH;

55-57 Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3QA

Source: https://www.ey.com/en_gl/locations/united-kingdom

 

2.4.2 The Rating Agencies

 

As well as selling shares or borrowing from banks, big companies raise finance by issuing bonds. Bonds are basically “IOUs”, debts written on bits of paper (or nowadays, electronic data) which can be sold and traded between investors, paying interest to whoever holds them.

The interest rates that companies (or governments, or anyone else) have to pay depends on their credit ratings. The more a company is seen as high-risk (i.e., likely to go bust and not pay its debts), the higher interest it has to pay.

Who sets the credit ratings for companies, governments, and other major institutions? Worldwide, there are just three main “ratings agencies” whose ratings are followed by investors. These are Moodys, Standard & Poors, and Fitch.

As with the Big 4 accountants, there is ongoing debate about “cartelling” and collusion in the ratings industry. A fundamental flaw in the system is that the rating agencies are basically paid on commission by the same companies and banks they analyse. Calls for reform were particularly strong following the 2008 crash, when the three agencies were criticised for giving good ratings to the banks’ “securitised” sub-prime mortgage bonds (and others) that then blew up. Needless to say, nothing much has changed since then.

The rating agencies have real power to shape markets. For example, cutting a rating below “investment grade” automatically triggers sell-off by many big investment funds. For a country’s debt (“sovereign” bonds), this can trigger a national economic crisis. And for a big oil or coal infrastructure scheme that needs to raise debt finance, having a good rating could be almost as important as getting insurance in place.

The three main global rating agencies are all US-based. All have London offices, which are often the main bases for their analysts working on Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

 

S&P
The Mcgraw-Hill Building, 20 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5LH
Source: https://www.spglobal.com/en/contact-us/office-locations

 

Moodys

1Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5FA

Source: www.moodys.com/Pages/contactus.aspx

Owners: PLC. The biggest shareholder is Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 13.07% (Warren Buffet’s investment fund), after that the usual big funds such as Vanguard, BlackRock, State St.

 

Fitch Ratings
30 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5GN

Source: www.fitchratings.com/site/about/contact

Owners: Hearst Corporation.

 

2.4.3 Exchanges

Back in the day, financial exchanges were big rooms full of shouty men in bowler hats or braces waving bits of paper. Nowadays they are more likely to be computerised “virtual” marketplaces where artificial intelligence algorithms are pushing out the coke-heads.

Still, for now most of the big exchanges do have physical locations, and many of these are still in the City. The London, Stock Exchange (LSE) is the best known, trading shares in UK publicly listed companies (PLCs). But London is also home to other specialist exchanges, including some of the world’s biggest marketplaces for trading “commodities” such as oil and metals, as well as the new world of carbon emissions trading.

 

London Stock Exchange (LSE)

10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS

Source: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/global/contact-us/contact-us.html

 

London Metal Exchange (LME)

10 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AJ

Source: https://www.lme.com/en-GB/About/Contact-us/Offices

The LME is the world’s largest market for trading futures and options contracts concerning base and other metals, including non-ferrous, steel, cobalt and precious metals. The LME’s “responsible sourcing rules” do not require companies to take into account environmental and climate risks in their supply chains.

 

ICE Futures Europe

5th Floor, Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street, London, EC1Y 4SA

Source: https://www.intercontinentalexchange.com/about/offices

The main European exchange for trading futures, option, and other standard derivatives contracts. Products traded here include commodities and energy derivatives, such as futures and options contracts on oil, gas, coal, and “soft” agricultural commodities. ICE Futures Europe says it is “home to 50% of the world’s crude and refined oil futures trading”. It is also now the “world’s leading market for emissions trading”. It trades futures contracts for EU carbon allowances and Kyoto protocol “certified emissions reductions” (CERs). (The previous European Climate Exchange (ECX) was bought out by ICE and merged into the main exchange.)

Owners: formerly LIFFE (London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange), it is now the European part of the international derivatives market owned by Intercontinental Exchanges (ICE), based in the US.

 

London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)

1-2 Royal Exchange Buildings, Royal Exchange, London, EC3V 3LF.

Source: http://www.lbma.org.uk/contact

Members of the LBMA, mostly international banks and bullion dealers and refiners, trade futures contracts on precious metals in over-the-counter (rather than exchange) deals.

 

London Clearing House (LCH)

Aldgate House, Aldgate High Street, London, EC3N 1EA, UK

Source: https://www.lch.com/contact-us

A key back office part of the financial markets infrastructure, a clearing house organises the actual payment and exchange of securities after deals are made on the various exchanges, as well as for more bespoke “over the counter” (OTC) deals. LCH is one of the biggest in the global markets.

 

CTX (Carbon Trade Exchange)

2nd Floor, Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London, W1J 6BD

Source: https://ctxglobal.com/

UK and Australia based company which runs an electronic exchange for trading voluntary carbon offset credits.

 

2.5 Law firms

 

Capitalism can’t function without lawyers to draw up contracts, defend property rights – and give “rule of law” cover to the repression of those who challenge it. Brutal earth-wrecking corporations, in particular, have well-paid lawyers on call to justify their land grabs and defend them when “accidents” or human rights violations come to light. The firms in this list are just a few of the most notorious specialists in this area of corporate law.

Note: law firms are generally limited partnerships owned by the senior lawyers who work for them.

 

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Telephone House, 2-4 Temple Avenue, London, EC4Y 0HB

Source: https://www.gibsondunn.com/office/london/

Multinational US firm that prides itself on its work with the oil and gas industries. Its ‘environmental tort’ department specialises in defending companies against mass action claims for breaches of environmental laws. On its website, Gibson Dunn boasts a long list of examples, including representing a major food company: in a series of toxic tort lawsuits involving thousands of Latin American workers claiming personal injuries from exposure to a chemical used on banana farms. Another of its “success” stories is helping Chevron overturn a ruling in favour of 48 Ecuadorean plaintiffs who had sued the company over pollution from the Lago Agrio oil field.

 

Dentons

1 Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7RA
Source: www.dentons.com/en/global-presence/united-kingdom/london

Described as the largest law firm in the world thanks to the 10,000 lawyers it employs globally. Dentons advised on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, which were eventually scrapped after intense opposition by indigenous people in Turtle Island (Canada). Dentons also defends corporations against class action suits, including those of an aboriginal and environmental nature. Indeed, the company has its very own specialist (anti) aboriginal law department. Clients include BASF, the government of India, and Centrica.

Latham & Watkins

99 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3XF
Source: https://www.lw.com/offices/london

US law firm whose clients include Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron. Its record includes representing Shell in two sets of group actions brought by thousands of residents of the Bille and Ogale communities for extensive oil pollution in the Niger Delta.

Baker Botts (UK) LLP

41 Lothbury, London, EC2R 7HF

Source: https://www.bakerbotts.com/offices/london

Major US firm with a UK branch. Prides itself in its work with the energy sector, including oil & gas, hydro power, LNG and unconventional fossil fuels. Clients includeBP, Gazprom, Petrogas and Qatar Petroleum.

 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

65 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1HT

Source: https://www.freshfields.com/en-gb/contacts/contact-us/europe/london-office/

Multinational corporate law firm headquartered in London. Established in 1743, Freshfields is the world’s oldest international law firm. It advises multinationals, including oil and gas firms, dealing with litigation on environmental and human rights grounds. Although it likes to keep details of the clients in specific cases a secret, other sources reveal that the company has successfully defended Europe’s biggest CO2 emitter, RWE, against a claim by a Peruvian mountain guide for the company’s contribution to the effects of climate change on his community.

White & Case LLP

5 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1DW

Source: www.whitecase.com/locations/emea/london

US corporate law firm with offices in London. Clients include Energean, Saudi Aramco, Eni and Total.

Allen & Overy

One Bishops Square, London, E1 6AD

Source: www.allenovery.com/en-gb/global/global_coverage/europe/united-kingdom

Major international corporate law firm whose clients include oil and gas companies. Worked on the Trans Adriatic gas Pipeline (‘TAP’) and the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan & India gas pipeline (TAPI).

Linklaters

1 Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8HQ

Source: https://www.linklaters.com/en/locations/united-kingdom

Multinational corporate law firm. Clients include ExxonMobil, Eni, BP, Total, Gazprom, and Rosneft. Has advised Rosneft on oil concessions in Iraqi Kurdistan.

 

Pinsent Masons

30 Crown Place, Earl Street, London, EC2A 4ES

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com/locations/europe/united-kingdom/london?pageNumber=1

Major international law firm specialising in work with the energy sector, among others. Has reportedly offered its services to companies seeking anti-fracking protest injunctions. Clients include BP, Shell and Total.

 

Norton Rose Fulbright

3 More London, Riverside, London, SE1 2AQ

Source: www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-gb/locations/london

Another huge international law firm, with a specialism in defending multinationals against so-called “toxic tort” cases. These include “mass disaster and catastrophic events”, such as class action lawsuits by communities affected by groundwater contamination, and workers subjected to chemical exposure. Clients include BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell.

Clifford Chance

10 Upper Bank Street, London, E14 5JJ

Source: https://www.cliffordchance.com/people_and_places/offices/london.html

Another corporate law firm, whose long list of clients include Shell, Total, Engie, Equinor, Kuwait National Petroleum, Soco International, Sinopec, SOCAR, Trans Adriatic Pipeline, Offshore Drilling Holding S.A., Nord Stream and Chrysaor.

 

Slaughter and May

1 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8YY

Source: https://www.slaughterandmay.com/where-we-work/offices/london//#officelocation

Major corporate law firm which has worked extensively with oil, gas and mining companies. Clients include INEOS, Shell, Repsol and Premier Oil.

 

2.6 Military and security

 

The military industrial complex is one of the most polluting industries on earth. The U.S. Department of Defense is responsible for more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined. It has littered its former war zones with toxic cocktails of depleted uranium, oil, jet fuel, pesticides, defoliants like Agent Orange, lead, and other contaminants. War itself is also a major CO2 emitter: in 2005, the UK military was responsible for approximately 5 million tonnes of CO2, which was then roughly equivalent to the total emissions of Senegal. In the same year, the estimate for the US military was 60 million tonnes.

But aside from its own direct earth-wrecking, the military plays a further central role in planetary capitalist devastation. It is the enforcement arm of the system, called out to use terror and lethal force wherever profits need defending from people resisting the corporations. And wherever there are new markets to be “opened” through colonisation and regime change.

Still drawing on its imperial history, London is one of the main global centres of the war industry. It is home to some of the world’s largest arms manufacturers and dealers. And it is a key hub for mercenary contractors – the Private Military and Security Companies, or PMSCs – which often have close ties to the British armed forces and the local officer class.

For arms companies see: Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) list

Unsurprisingly the mercenary industry is pretty secretive. Here we just name a few better-known examples of bigger and more public-facing companies. Here are some recent reports on the UK industry with more information:

War on Want: Mercenaries Unleashed (2016)

Action on Armed Violence: Britain’s private military and security industry examined (December 2018)

 

2.6.1. Arms manufacturers

 

BAE Systems

4th Floor, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0TA

Source: https://www.baesystems.com/en/cybersecurity/careers/our-locations/uk-and-europe/london

The world’s fourth largest arms company. Combat aircraft, warships, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, missiles, small arms ammunition, cyber & intelligence, and nuclear missile submarines. 14% of BAE’s total sales are to Saudi Arabia, 42% to the US.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: PLC. Owned by major investment funds.

 

Boeing

Boeing Defence UK: 25 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0EX

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01290439

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

The second largest arms company in the world. Produces the Apache attack helicopter, which has been used in military operations in countries including Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: US PLC.

 

Northrop Grumman

Clareville House, Oxendon Street, London, SW1Y 4EL

Source: https://www.northropgrumman.com/careers/job-search-united-kingdom/

The fifth-largest arms company in the world. Northrop Grumman manufactures combat aircraft such as the ground-attack A-10 and the B-2 Spirit “stealth” bomber. It also produces a wide range of military drones.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: US PLC.

 

Leonardo (formerly Finmeccanica)

8-10 Great George St, London, SW1P 3AE

Source: https://www.uk.leonardocompany.com/en/contact-us

Products include military helicopters, fighter aircraft, drones, missiles, radar and targetting systems, naval guns, artillery and armoured combat vehicles.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: Italian PLC, listed on Milan stock exchange.

 

Rolls Royce

Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9FX

Source: https://www.rolls-royce.com/contact-us/rolls-royce-headquarters.aspx

Produces military aircraft engines, naval engines and cores for nuclear submarines.

See also: CAAT page.

Owners: UK listed PLC.

 

Airbus Group (EADS)

Airbus Defence and Space UK: Floor 2, Wellington House, 125-30 Strand, London, WC2R 0AP

Source: https://www.airbus.com/contact-us.html

2nd largest arms company in Europe. Its products include fighter jets, artillery systems, missiles (via MBDA) and helicopters.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: Paris listed PLC.

 

Thales

Quadrant House, 4 Thomas More Square, Thomas More Street, London, E1W 1YW

Source: https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/countries/europe/united-kingdom/about-thales-uk/our-uk-locations

Military products comprise 49% of its 2012 sales. Its arms sectors can be summarised as electronics, military vehicles, missiles, and small arms/ammunition.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: Paris listed PLC.

 

General Dynamics

21 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2DY

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01911653

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Sixth-largest arms company in the world, with four main divisions: aerospace, combat systems, IS&T (information systems and technology) and marine systems.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

Owners: US listed PLC.

 

L3 Technologies

23 King Street, London, SW1Y 6QY

Source: https://www.l3t.com/locations

World’s 10th largest arms producer, with 84% of its activity being in the military sector.

See also: Campaign Against Arms Trade page.

 

2.6.2 PSMCs (Mercenaries and security firms)

 

The 2003 Iraq War saw the most significant use of PMSCs to date. While exact figures are difficult to come by, it is said that during the 1991 Gulf War the ratio of troops to contractors was approximately ten to one, in 2007 during the Iraq War, the ratio was roughly one to one …”

 

G4S

5th Floor, Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QT
Source: www.g4s.com/en-gb/site-tools/contact-us

(NB: G4S shares this building with offices of the NHS. Its head office is near Crawley.)

The second largest private security company in the world, G4S does everything from transporting cash to running private prisons. Just one part of the business is running mercenaries in war-torn countries, particularly in the Middle East and East Africa. The British government has employed G4S mercenaries in Afghanistan and Yemen, and G4S operates a subsidiary in Sudan. Oil and mining companies are other regular clients. According to War on Want: “G4S, whose clients include Royal Dutch Shell and AngloGold Ashanti, is known to be targeting the natural resources sector.”

See also: 2018 Corporate Watch company profile.

 

Aegis

2 London Bridge, London, SE1 9RA

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04541965

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Aegis Defence Services is a mercenary firm involved with the NGO, aerospace, and government and diplomatic sectors, as well as the oil, gas and mining industries. According to War on Want (from 2016): “Aegis Defence Services boasts that the company’s ‘largest area of business is Iraq’, and that it ‘has been operating in support of the oil and gas sector for over two years’”. Some scandals include footage emerging of soldiers apparently firing at civilians in Iraq, and the use of former child soldiers from Sierra Leone.

 

Control Risks

Cottons Centre, Cottons Lane, London, SE1 2QG

Source: https://www.controlrisks.com/contact-us/office-search/london

Control Risks describes itself as an “international professional services and consulting firm” – others have described it as a mercenary outfit. It has worked securing company oil assets in Iraq, and has also played an active role in Libya.

 

Corps Security

Market House, 85 Cowcross St, London, EC1M 6PF

Source: https://www.corpssecurity.co.uk/contact/office-locations/

Formerly known as the Corps of Commissionaires, Corps Security is a British security company that officially reports to Queen Elizabeth II, with a team of about 3,000 security personnel and a dozen offices throughout the U.K. It specialises in “corporate security” – including event protection, electronic surveillance, and consulting.

 

Serco

4th Floor, 100 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5JL

Source: https://www.serco.com/about/office-locations

Serco is a UK-based outsourcing firm that does basically anything governments want to outsource, from locking up migrants to cleaning offices. Security is one of the most lucrative parts of the business. According to the defence section of its website, “We currently service 70+ military contracts with the Military of Defence (MoD).We operate in Maritime, Aviation, Space &Security and Nuclear & Complex Infrastructure.”

See also: Corporate Watch 2018 profile

 

Mitie

The Shard, Level 12, 32 London Bridge Street, Southwark, London, SE1 9SG

Cottons Centre, Cottons Lane, London, SE1 2QG

Source: https://www.mitie.com/contact-us/ ; https://www.mitie.com/locations/

Mitie is another general government outsourcer, with security one particularly profitable strand of its business. It is the UK’s biggest profiteer from running immigration detention centres, and the country’s second biggest security company after G4S, with a leading place in providing security guards to aviation and transport companies.

See also: Corporate Watch profile 2018.

 

Hakluyt

34 Upper Brook Street, London, W1K 7QS

Source: https://www.hakluytandco.com/

Private intelligence company known for hiring ex-MI6 spooks. Said to be highly discrete, but hit headlines back in 2001 when an undercover agent was exposed who had “penetrated environmental groups targeting Shell and BP”. Partners include the former boss of GCHQ, and it has an “international advisory board” of big names from business and politics, chaired by a former CEO of Unilever.

 

2.7 Government

 

One line of political propaganda presents state and markets as antagonists: corporations and speculators are tearing up the world in their rampant greed, and only strong government can hold them back. (Or, in the right-wing mirror version, government holds back the great progressive force of the free market.)

In fact, the state is ecocidal capitalism’s intimate partner. Government plays a number of roles that are all essential to the machine. Here are some, with a few examples of UK government units:

  • Military: sending in gunboats or mercenaries to “open” new markets for corporations and investors (Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, Foreign Office, Intelligence Services).
  • Law-enforcement: maintaining a stable property system where companies’ ownership rights are respected (Police, judiciary, security services).
  • Financial: funding infrastructure that isn’t profitable enough for the private sector, bailing out banks and companies when they screw up, etc. (Treasury, Bank of England, other departments through public spending and procurement).
  • Deal-making: negotiating and acting as a representative for businesses to foreign states, etc. (Foreign Office, Department of International Trade, Department for International Development, ..)
  • Regulatory: providing rules and supervision for markets, adjudicating disputes between companies, etc. (Treasury, Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority, Department for Business, ..)
  • Ideological: providing a national education system and other measures to ensure citizens learn how to be good worker-consumers (Department of Education, Department of Culture, ..).

See: our book on Capitalism for more on all this.

There are numerous government locations in central London. We haven’t included them on the map because they are already well known, and easy to find.

Wikipedia list of central government departments with addresses

Metropolitan Police stations and City of London Police stations

 

 

 

 

 

3. Ideology industry

 

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.” Ursula Le Guin

 

The people killing the earth are the powerful: political and business leaders armed with the economic might of trillion dollar investment funds and the lethal force of police and armies.

But they can’t do it without widespread consent. They need the active participation of millions of accomplices: managers, bureaucrats, engineers, mercenaries, cops, and many others, who run the earth-wrecking machine and crush resistance. And they need at least passive acceptance from billions more of us: whether we also dream of getting a piece of the action, or we just can’t see any way out.

But capitalism isn’t natural or inevitable. It’s just a peculiarly destructive social system made by some human beings over the last few hundred years. To keep going it needs to keep us believing, to continually “manufacture” our consent.

The ideology industry is what we’re calling the organisations and networks dedicated to this. Their job is both creative and critical. On the one hand: keep pumping us with beliefs, values and desires that fuel the consumption and growth machine. On the other: undermine any alternative visions.

The ideology they weave goes very deep, with multiple layers. Some key ones:

  • Domination: core beliefs separating humans from “nature” and asserting our power over the natural world – and, hand in hand, the separation and domination of some humans over others. This ideological strand goes back maybe some 5,000 years to the origins of “civilisation” and the first states.
  • Capitalism: humans are “economic agents” driven by greed or self-interest; private property and markets are natural and sacred; happiness is consumer goods and financial status; economic growth is the number one political imperative. These ideas have been fighting their way to power over a few hundred years.
  • Green capitalism: now the ecological devastation caused by capitalism becomes obvious, the ideology industry needs to go into overdrive spinning new stories. It’s not enough just to keep pushing consumer products and the growth fantasy. They also need to reassure us the status quo can solve ecological crises with technofixes and transition fuels – just keep calm and carry on.

The ideology industry feeds us these ideas again and again. Some of its main channels are:

  • Education system: even in infant school we can start learning about government authority, private property, business success. Higher education trains the machine’s managers, and the teachers who pass on its values to the next generation.
  • Media and culture industries: TV, movies, drivetime radio, newspapers, social media pump out a million more variants on the same messages, repackaged and repeated with the latest issues, consumer trends or celebrity gossip.
  • Politics: parliamentary politics is a theatre where our “leaders” identify and bicker over the issues of the day – Brexit, Megxit, immigrant hordes … so long as it isn’t capitalism killing the planet. Politicians and media work together in a symbiotic clinch, feeding each other stories and attention.

The companies and investors listed in Parts 1 and 2 influence us through all of these channels. They feed them with ideas and stories they want to promote. They also influence what ideas and stories get trashed, buried, or just ignored.

  • Business feeds the education system with sponsorships and endowments, employment partnerships, academy chains, etc.
  • Business feeds media and culture industries with advertising, investment, press releases and “off the record” sources, targeted PR operations.
  • Business feeds the politicians with lobbying and donations, and by setting up think tanks that develop ideas and agendas.
  • Business also feeds all of these through more informal social networking. Company bosses, financiers, politicians, media moguls, movie producers, editors and commentators, top academics or think tank pundits, etc., all mingle together at conferences, board meetings, dinners, charity events, villa holidays, members’ clubs, old school reunions, and so on.

The organisations identified in the next sections are just some of the most visible players in this web. We start with two of the main channels used to spread ideology: London-based (higher) education institutions; and the more powerful or more right wing media organisations. Then we look at some organisations that help companies influence these: PR firms, lobby groups, and think tanks, as well as more specialist greenwashing initiatives.

 

3.1 Universities

 

London’s university quarter sits at the centre of the map, midway between the financial hub of the City and the seat of government in Whitehall. From the start the University of London has been a key player in the development of modern capitalism and its ideology. Its first institution, University College, was set up in the 1820s with the support of London businessmen and an agenda of promoting the liberal and free market ideas of the new capitalist ruling class – as against the aristocratic old regime represented by Oxford and Cambridge.

Throughout this history, London University has been financed and directed by local and global capital. Businesses shape its development through grants and partnerships, or by sponsoring specific chairs, scholarships, and whole research units focusing on their subjects of interest. Specialist units promoting greenwashing and green capitalism are just one new twist on this.

 

Imperial College

Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ

Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/visit/campuses/south-kensington/

Imperial College is London’s prestige university institution specialising in science and engineering. Imperial is making some serious contributions to greenwashing including dedicated research units promoting “Clean fossil and bioenergy” and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. The latter works closely with the oil industry and the Global CCS Institute thinktank, which is linked to direct from Imperial’s website.

 

UCL (University College London)

Main address: Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

ISR, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment: 22 Gordon St, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0QB

UCL campus map: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/maps

The UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, funded by major earth killers including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Tata Steel, HSBC and KPMG is a major source of greenwashing. BHP Billiton’s contribution of at least $5 million caused particular controversy.

 

LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science)

LSE main address: Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

GRI: Floor 11, Pethick-Lawrence House (Formerly Tower 3), Clement’s Inn, London WC2A 2AZ

Campus map: https://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-information/Campus-Map

Its main green capitalism initiative is the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, which works on areas such as carbon pricing, transition economics and “green Growth”. Sponsors include dam-builder Statkraft. (This is the twin of the science-focused Grantham Institute at Imperial College; both are funded by investment fund manager Jeremy Grantham). LSE’s other corporate “global partners” are major banks, investment funds, and Big 4 accountancy firms.

 

Kings College

Main address: Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Source: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/

Its Thomas Young Centre – an alliance with UCL, Imperial and Queen Mary’s Colleges – is an engineering research centre working on computer simulations in collaboration with companies including BP and Rio Tinto. The £6 million Rio Tinto partnership studies rock fragmentation techniques to develop “the mine of the future”.

 

SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies)

Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square London WC1H 0XG

Source: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/contacts/

Houses the Brunei Art Gallery, endowed by the Sultan of Brunei, one of the planet’s biggest oil profiteers.

3.2 Media

3.2.1 Social media platforms

 

Google

1-13 St Giles High St, London, WC2H 8AG

6 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG

Belgrave House, 76 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9TQ

Source: https://about.google/intl/en-GB/locations/?region=europe

(NB: due to relocate to new Kings Cross “lowscraper” campus in next few years.)

They know everything about you and soon they will own the world.

 

Facebook

1 Rathbone Square, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 1FB

https://www.facebook.com/facebooklondon/

Data-harvesting giants.


3.2.2 TV and radio

 

BBC

Broadcasting House: Portland Place, London W1A 1AA

The official broadcaster of the UK mainstream. BBC bosses have said they will no longer give climate change deniers the prominence they once did, but the corporation continues to uncritically report the activities and impact of the companies on this map through much of its news coverage.

 

ITV

2 Waterhouse Square, 138 – 142 Holborn, London EC1N 2AE

Source: https://www.itvstudios.com/contact

Free to view TV network. One of the very few major UK media companies that is owned by a publicly traded company, ITV PLC.

 

Sky Media

10th Floor Nova South, 160 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5LB

Source: www.skymedia.co.uk/contact/

The UK’s largest pay TV broadcaster. Owned by Comcast, mega US TV corporation, which is largely owned by the Roberts Family.

 

3.2.3 Newspapers (and news websites)

 

News UK

1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

Source: www.news.co.uk/contact-us/

The “baby shard” building next to London Bridge station houses the UK division of Rupert Murdoch’s global News Corp media empire, including the offices of The Sun and The Times. Murdoch’s Fox Corporation TV network are notorious climate change deniers.

 

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT)

Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT

Source: https://www.dmgt.com/about-us/locations-and-contacts

HQ of the Daily Mail and Metro papers and their online outlets. The Metro, a free tabloid, is now regarded as the UK’s most widely read paper. The parent company DMGT is listed on the London Stock Exchange, but a majority stake is retained by hereditary owner and chairman Lord Rothermere. The Mail particularly gives space to the rants and fantasies of climate change deniers.

 

Daily Express

One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/about-us/amp#contact-us

Right wing migrant-bashing and climate change-denying rag. Trinity Mirror group bought the Express from longtine owner Richard Desmond in 2018, without changing the paper’s winning formula.

 

Evening Standard

ESI Media: 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/service/contact-evening-standard-7185764.html

London free newspaper edited by former chancellor George Osborne. It is majority owned by Russian oligarch’s son and socialite Evgeny Lebedev, whose family made their fortune from investments and natural gas, among other things. A minority share is owned by DMGT (see above), and it has offices in the Daily Mail building.

 

The Telegraph

111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT
Source: corporate.telegraph.co.uk/contact-us/

The Torygraph. Owned by the Barclay Brothers. Has been regularly criticised for featuring climate deniers in its pages.

 

The Spectator

22 Old Queen St, Westminster, London SW1H 9HP
Source: www.spectator.co.uk/about/

Conservative mag once edited by Boris Johnson. Another publication owned by the Barclay Brothers, who also own the Telegraph. Has been accused of providing “a ready platform for proponents of climate change denial”.

 

3.3 Trade associations and Lobby groups

 

Free market capitalist ideology often stresses competition. But capitalism also relies on companies working together to defend their common interests. The companies in our map have created numerous alliances and associations to do this. One main role of these trade associations is coordinating messaging and PR campaigns across the industry. Another is acting as industry representatives to lobby politicians.

 

GENERAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS

 

Confederation of British Industry

Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 6HN
Source: www.cbi.org.uk/help/contact-us/

The biggest lobbyists for business in Britain, calling itself “the voice for business”. The CBI has 190,000 company members and employs “100+ economic and policy specialists, the largest policy unit outside Whitehall”. It also organises hundreds of networking events across the country each year.

 

Institute of Directors

116 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ED
Source: www.iod.com/about/contact-us

A 30,000+ membership organisation for company bosses established in 1903. The IoD provides training and advice to its members, and organises networking opportunities. It has published reports sponsored by Cuadrilla.

TheCityUk

Fitzwilliam House, 10 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8BF
Source: www.thecityuk.com/contact/

Campaigning body for London (and other UK) banks and investment funds – “Britain’s most powerful financial lobby group”. Its chair is also chairman of HSBC. Seeks to influence policy at national and international levels. Also holds many networking events.

ENERGY SECTOR

 

Energy UK

1st Floor, 26 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1DS

Source: https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/contact-us.html

A trade association for over 100 suppliers, generators and “stakeholders” across the UK energy industry. Members include Drax, RWE, Shell and many other companies on our map.

 

Energy Institute

61 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 7AR

Source: https://www.energyinst.org/contact

Formed by the merger of the Institute of Petroleum and Institute of Energy in 2003, the Energy Institute is a membership association for around 20,000 engineers and other professionals representing 200 companies working in the fossil fuel and renewable energy industries.

 

Energy Networks Association

4 More London, Riverside, London, SE1 2AU

Source: http://www.energynetworks.org/info/find-us/contact-us.html

Formed in 2003, the Energy Networks Association represents the UK and Ireland’s transmission and distribution network operators in gas and electricity. Its members include the National Grid and Scottish Power.

 

AGRICULTURE

 

National Farmers’ Union (NFU)

18 Smith Square, Westminster, London, SW1P 3HZ

Source: https://www.nfuonline.com/about-us/our-offices/external-affairs-westminster/

 

British Meat Processors Association

17 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0DP

Source: https://britishmeatindustry.org/about/contact-us/

 

CHEMICAL

 

Chemical Industries Association (CIA)

Kings Buildings, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JJ

Source: https://www.cia.org.uk/

The CIA represents UK chemicals and pharmaceutical companies at a national and international level, including manufacturers and importers/exporters.

 

NUCLEAR

 

Nuclear Industry Association

5th Floor, Tower House, 10 Southampton Street, London, WC2E 7HA

Source: https://www.niauk.org/contact/

The NIA is the trade association for the UK’s civil nuclear industry, representing over 260 companies across the supply chain. The chief executive, Tom Greatrex, is an advocate for expanding the UK nuclear industry through a new and cheaper investment mechanism.

 

World Nuclear Association (WNA)

Tower House, 10 Southampton Street, London, WC2E 7HA

Source: https://www.world-nuclear.org/

Based in the same building as the UK’s Nuclear Industry Association, the WNA is an international organisation, with over 170 members, promoting nuclear power and the companies that provide it.

 

FOSSIL FUEL

 

The Geological Society

Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BG
Source: www.geolsoc.org.uk/about

Huge membership organisation of geologists, and promoters of fossil fuels. Specialist divisions such as the Petroleum Group, Mineral Deposits Studies Group, and Engineering Group help unsustainable development go ahead with the rubber stamp of a respected body of scientists.

 

Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain

3rd Floor, Welby House, 96 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1DW
Source: www.pesgb.org.uk/contact/

Membership organisation for scientists working in the oil and gas industry. The organisation convenes networking opportunities and lectures.

 

UK Petroleum Industry Association Limited (UKPIA)

37-39 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6AA

Source: https://www.ukpia.com/site-tools/contact-us/

The UKPIA represents and advises the UK downstream oil sector: the eight oil refining and marketing companies that operate the six major oil refineries in the UK. These include fossil fuel giants BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total.

 

Oil and Gas UK (OGUK)

6th Floor East, Portland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BH

Source: https://oilandgasuk.co.uk/about-us/contactus

While the UKPIA represents the UK downstream oil sector, OGUK represents the offshore (or upstream) oil and gas industry. Its membership comprises around 400 organisations, from fossil fuel giants like Shell and BP to auditors such as Deloitte, and other companies supporting the fossil fuel economy.

 

Society of International Gas Tankers and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO)

42 New Broad Street, London, EC2M 1JD

Source: https://www.sigtto.org/contact/

Has over 170 members representing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. Along with shipping and logistics companies, its members include fossil fuel giants BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total.

 

World Coal Association (WCA)

5th Floor Heddon House, 149-151 Regent Street, London, W1B 4JD

Source: https://www.ctc-n.org/network/network-members/world-coal-association (not available on WCA website)

Lobbying and membership association for the global coal industry. Purports to address environmental concerns by advocating for “high efficiency, low emission” (HELE) coal and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Its members include Glencore and other mining giants.

 

MINING

 

International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM)

35/38 Portman Square, London, W1H 6LR

Source: https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/footer/contact-us

The ICMM supports extractivist capitalism and pays lip service to environmental concerns. It has a membership of 27 international mining and minerals giants, including BHP, Glencore, Lonmin, RioTinto and others high up on our map.

 

 

RENEWABLE, ALTERNATIVE AND TECHNOFIX

 

Renewable Energy Association (REA)

80 Strand, London, WC2R 0DT

Source: https://www.r-e-a.net/about-us/contact-us/

Represents companies across the renewable energy industry including the biogas, biomass and hydropower industries – and massive carbon emitters such as Drax and RWE. Its members directory has useful information on the different companies active in the sector.

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Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA)

Sustainable Bankside II, 25 Lavington Street, London, SE1 ONZ

Source: http://adbioresources.org/contact

The ADBA was established in 2009 to lobby for the removal of barriers to the anaerobic digestion and biogas industry in the UK, and soon widened its remit to include all emergent biofuels. It has over 400 members from across the industry.

 

Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA)

6th Floor, 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0DX

Source: http://www.ccsassociation.org/about-us/contact-us/

Promotes the use of techno-fix Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. Its members include BP, Shell, Total, Wood and other companies on our map.

 

Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Institute

Evergreen House North, Grafton Place, London, NW1 2DX

Source: https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/contact/

The Global CCS Institute describes itself as the world’s leading international thinktank whose aim is to promote techno-fix Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS). Members including BP, BHP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and other massive emitters.

 

ENERGY AND CLIMATE TRADING

 

Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA)

100 New Bridge Street, London, EC4V 6JA

Source: https://www.cmia.net/contact/

The CMIA’s mission is to shift private and public investment towards markets that meet the long-term, gradualist objectives of the Paris Agreement, inadequate to tackling climate change. It has Active Private Sector Observer (APSO) status over some of the largest and most influential global climate funds, usually funded by governments to finance “climate mitigation and adaptation activities” in emerging markets.

 

London Energy Brokers’ Association (LEBA)

Warnford Court, 29 Throgmorton Street, London, EC2N 2AT

Source: https://www.leba.org.uk/contact/

LEBA represents broking firms active in the energy industry, and provides support to the industry generally in the areas of regulation and legislation.

 

3.5 Think tanks

“Think tanks” or “policy institutes” are idea incubators – organisations set up to develop and promote ideas and policies in the service of a particular agenda. They tend to work more behind the scenes: seeking to influence politicians and get stories in the news, but without becoming the story themselves. They promote world views from social democracy to far-right crankery – but given that most are funded by corporations and rich investors, the majority are pushing versions of environmentally-destructive free market capitalism.

Though there are prominent examples going back to the 19th century and before, the big think tank boom started from the 1950s, spreading from the US. Joe Overton, an employee of one right-wing US think tank in the 1990s, came up with a classic model of their work. The point is that politicians rarely set the agenda themselves – they just choose policies which they think will win votes, within a range of options acceptable to mainstream public opinion. It is the think tanks’ job to shift this “Overton window” of what is politically acceptable, so setting the stage on which politics takes place.

 

Chatham House (aka Royal Institute of International Affairs)

10 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4LE

Source: https://www.chathamhouse.org/about/contact

Venerable British institution dating back to 1920. Calls itself “independent”, meaning the middle ground of the establishment elite – two of its three presidents are former Conservative PM John Major, and former Labour treasurer Alastair Darling. Famous for off-the-record briefings held under unattributable “Chatham House Rules”. Hosts more than 300 events a year. Promotes green capitalism and business-led “transition” through its Energy, Environment and Resources research programme, including events starring earth-wrecking company bosses and greenwashing academics. Some of its biggest funding comes from oil majors: Chevron and Shell each gave over £250,000 last year; and ExxonMobil, BP, Glencore over £100,000 apiece.

 

Institute of Economic Affairs

2 Lord North Street (entrance on Great Peter Street), London, SW1P 3LB
Source: iea.org.uk/contact-us/

A highly influential, hardcore free market think tank that has spent decades attempting to undermine consensus on climate change. One of a number of think tanks set up by Anthony Fisher, Old Etonian battery chicken farm millionaire and right-wing think tank impressario par excellence. Receives funding from corporations including BP.

 

Adam Smith Institute

23 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3DJ
Source: www.adamsmith.org/

Another major neoliberal (self-proclaimed) think tank co-founded by Anthony Fisher. Its policy proposals have been taken up by governments since Thatcher. It has also railed against renewables and greenbelts. Reveals very little about its funding.

 

Centre for Policy Studies

57 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL
Source: www.cps.org.uk/about/contact-us/

Pro-free market, Tory-supporting think tank co-founded by Margaret Thatcher. Climate change sceptics and vocal advocates of fracking.

 

Global Warming Policy Foundation

55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL
Source: www.thegwpf.org/contact-2/

Climate change denial lobby group founded by former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson. The GWPF actively fights against efforts to mitigate climate change, as well as advocating for the fracking industry, pushing back against recycling, and claiming that ‘polar bears are thriving’. One of the GWPF’s leading advisers was exposed in an undercover sting for offering to write an academic paper casting doubt on climate change on behalf of an oil company, and promoting C02 as a ‘benefit, not a pollutant’.

NB: one of a number of right-wing thinktanks which share the same building owned by defence industry businessman Richard Smith. See report on 55 Tufton Street by DesmogUK.

 

European Foundation

55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL
europeanfoundation.org/about/

Eurosceptics and climate change deniers, strongly oppose action against climate change and consider it a ‘bandwagon’. Now appears to be primarily the mouthpiece of its founder (Sir) Bill Cash, Tory MP for Stone.

NB: one of a number of right-wing thinktanks which share the same building owned by defence industry businessman Richard Smith. See report on 55 Tufton Street by DesmogUK.

 

Civitas

First Floor, 55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL
Source: www.civitas.org.uk/contact-us/

Centre-right, pro-business think tank that has promoted nuclear, coal and fracking. Civitas also produce educational materials, including fact sheets on ‘family and marriage’ aimed at PSHE lessons, which it claims are used in hundreds of UK secondary schools. The organisation also runs supplementary schools for young children. Director David Green built his career at the IEA before moving to Civitas. Civitas has received funding from Murdoch’s News International group.

NB: one of a number of right-wing thinktanks which share the same building owned by defence industry businessman Richard Smith. See report on 55 Tufton Street by DesmogUK.

 

 

Policy Exchange

8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE
Source: policyexchange.org.uk/contact-us/

Influential conservative think tank whose ideas have been implemented by successive governments. Advocate market ‘solutions’ and technofixes to climate change, including nuclear.

 

Initiative for Free Trade

10 Buckingham Street, London, WC2N 6DF

Source: www.ifreetrade.org/contact

Trade-focused think tank founded by Tory MEP Daniel Hannan. True believers in trickle down theory. They claim to have “extensive networks within governments” and aim to “reach out to businesses and interest groups around the world, particularly in developing countries.”
Various former heads of state sit on the advisory board. Collaborates with right-wing US think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, funded by arch-climate change deniers the Koch brothers.

 

Spiked Magazine

Wework Aldgate Tower, 2 Leman Street, London, E1 8FA

Source: https://www.spiked-online.com/

Climate change deniers & Greta Thunberg trolls. Once “Living Marxism”, before moving with the zeitgeist to dump trotskyism and become plain pro-establishment provocateurs. Have received significant sums of cash from alt-right-backing billionaires the Koch brothers.

 

3.5 PR firms

 

PR firms are trained experts in shaping our ideas and desires. Edward Bernays, the “father of public relations” who helped invent many of today’s PR techniques, frankly described his work as: “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses”. Companies, governments, and trade associations hire Bernays’ successors for specialist advice on how to push their agendas and sales. And they bring them in for emergency help to trash or bury negative stories.

See also: Spinwatch, following the UK lobbying and PR worlds since 2005.

 

Edelman UK

Southside, 105 Victoria St, London, SW1E 6QT

Source: https://www.edelman.co.uk/contact

UK branch of the most profitable PR company in the world. Big promoters of fracking, Edelman has also worked with TransCanada on the Keystone XL pipeline and organisations resisting action on climate change. It was at the centre of controversy in 2014-15 arising from this business line, and lost executives and significant clients as a result. In 2015, Edelman said it was abandoning all work for coal companies, climate change denial lobbyists and front groups. But it still does plenty for oil companies. Other clients include the European Gas Forum, Shell and Unilever.

See also: Corporate Watch profile (2012).

 

Lexington Communications

The Connection, 198 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BD

Source: http://lexcomm.co.uk/about

PR, lobbying, and ‘political intelligence’ firm. Has provided PR for the fracking industry, companies producing GM crops, and pro-biotech front groups.

See also: Spinwatch profile (March 2018).

 

Omnicom Group

Bankside 3, 90-100 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SW

Source: https://www.omnicomgroup.com/contact-us/

Holding company and enormous global PR conglomerate. Owns a list of PR fims including: Ketchum, Kreab, GPLUS, Portland, Fleishman Hillard.

 

Newgate communications

Sky Light City Tower, 50 Basinghall Street, London, EC2V 5DE

Source: https://www.newgatecomms.com/contact-us

PR firm for energy companies, described by Spinwatch as a “longstanding fracking industry lobbyist”.

See also: Spinwatch company page.

 

St Brides Partners

51 Eastcheap, London, EC3M 1JP

Source: http://www.stbridespartners.co.uk/home/

PR Agency that has promoted fracking and oil companies. Has faced protests from anti-fracking campaigners in wedding dresses.

 

Vigo Communications

Sackville House, 40 Piccadilly, London, W1J 0DR

Source: http://vigocomms.com/contact-us/

Public relations for oil and gas exploration and production, oil field services, mining and fracking, as well as other sectors.

 

Weber Shandwick

2 Waterhouse Square, 140 Holborn, London, EC1N 2AE

Source: http://webershandwick.co.uk/talk-to-us/

Professional greenwashers who have worked to rebrand McDonalds and provided PR to fracking companies Rathlin Energy and Tamboran Resources. Had close ties to the last Labour government, and sought work from the dictatorship of Bahrain.

See also: Spinwatch profile.

 

WPP PLC

Sea Containers House, 18 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9GL

Source: https://www.wpp.com/contacts

WPP has been described as the world’s biggest advertising & PR company. Clients include Shell.

 

Hanover communications

70 Grays Inn Rd, London, WC1X 8BT

Source: https://www.hanovercomms.com/about-us/hanover-london/

Specialises in public relations for major pharmaceuticals. Other clients include Tata Steel, Shell, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs. Have worked for fracking companies Cuadrilla resources and Tamboran. Numerous directors kicked off their careers in the Tory party.

 

Portland Communications

85 Strand, London, WC2R 0DW

Source: https://portland-communications.com/offices/london/

Established by former Blair adviser Tim Allan, Portland also employs former top Labour spin doctor and warmonger Alistair Campbell. Portland provided PR to the Heathrow third runway campaign. Other clients include the governments of Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, and Kazakhstan. Portland is one of the many PR companies owned by Omicom.

 

New Century Media

Dacre House, 19 Dacre Street, London, SW1H 0DJ

Source: http://www.newcenturymedia.co.uk/contact-us/

Advisors to heads of state and CEOs, this PR firm has prided itself on helping ‘manage domestic and internationally (sic.) issues, including … activism and protest’. New Century Media donated a third of its profits to the Conservative party ahead of the 2010 UK general election and has been described in the media as ‘pro-Russia lobbyists’. Corporate clients include BP & British Airways.

 

Teneo

6 More London Place, London SE1 2DA

Source: https://www.teneo.com/office-region/europe/

Global PR and “strategic” consultancy firm with an advisory board of US and UK politicians and other high-flyers: e.g., William Hague, Amber Rudd, Senator George Mitchell. Clients have included Dow Chemicals, BHP, and various oil companies. It has a Middle East presence with an office in Dubai, and in 2019 was hired to run the PR campaign for Saudi Arabia’s planned megacity of Neom.

Owners: PE firm CVC Capital Partners has majority share.

 

Public Relations and Communications Association

82 Great Suffolk Street, London, SE1 0BE

Source: https://www.prca.org.uk/contact-us

The PRCA is the world’s largest PR professional body, representing well over 30,000 practitioners.

 

Chartered Institute of Public Relations

4th Floor, 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ

Source: https://www.cipr.co.uk/

The CIPR delivers training programmes for PR professionals and organises annual ‘Excellence Awards’ for successful public relations campaigns.

 

3.6 Greenwashing services

 

With the rise of environmental concern and regulation, polluting companies need to keep up compliance and a clean image. This creates new business niches for third parties who operate specialist PR schemes to help them do this. This section lists just a few examples of such greenwash entrepreneurs.

 

The Climate Group

2nd Floor, Riverside Building, County Hall, Belvedere Rd, London, SE1 7PB

Source: https://www.theclimategroup.org/contact-us

An “international non-profit” that promotes greenwashing initiatives it calls “business actions”: e.g., its RE100 list of leading companies who “commit to using 100% renewable fuels” – by 2050. The corporates in this scheme turn out to include many names on our list. For example, banks and investment managers like AEG, Allianz, Citi, Goldman Sachs, or HSBC (to name just a few) who are amongst the world’s biggest funders of fossil fuels, plus world-class polluters like Tata and Unilever.

 

Environmental Defense Fund

1st Floor, Bank Chambers, 6 Borough High Street, London, SE1 9QQ

Source: https://www.edf.org/offices/europe

US charity with big business and government connections. Works on “partnership” schemes in which corporates help “solve” environmental problems and so present themselves as sustainability heroes: e.g., sending a project team to work with McDonalds and reduce its plastic waste. Has promoted the gas industry as a “transition fuel” away from coal.

 

Natural Capital Partners

167 Fleet St, Holborn, London, EC4A 2EA

Source: https://www.naturalcapitalpartners.com/contact-us

Carbon offsetting fixer. Helps polluting companies get “CarbonNeutral® certification” and hooks them up with emission offset schemes – e.g, planting trees, or “renewable energy certificates (RECs)” – so they can meet their sustainability targets.

 

Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI)

Suite 1, 3rd Floor 11-12 St. James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4LB

Source: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC415130

NB: Registered address. This is a current official company address; but it is not confirmed that it is an operational site rather than just a “letterbox”.

Greenwash initiative set up by the world’s biggest oil and gas companies – both the nationals such as Saudi Aramco and the private sector supermajors. It includes both a lobbying policy wing and a $1+ billion fund to invest in “innovative startups to lower the carbon footprints of the energy and industrial sectors”. One of its main objectives is to “jumpstart” the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry.

See also: DesmogUK website.

 

B Team

40 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3UD

Source: https://bteam.org/contact

Corporate spin initiative co-founded by Richard Branson. It brings together “leaders” from the likes of Allianz, Dow Chemicals, Engie, Tata and the World Wildlife Fund to push the message that business can lead the way to “a just transition to net-zero emissions by 2050”.

 

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The role of British universities in supporting Israel’s demolitions of Palestinian Homes https://corporatewatch.org/the-role-of-british-universities-in-supporting-israels-demolitions-of-palestinian-homes/ Mon, 25 Nov 2019 18:18:22 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=7619 By Tom Anderson Palestinians are calling for people internationally to take action against the companies complicit in Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes. This article focuses on British university partnerships with JCB, Caterpillar, HSBC and Volvo – four companies which are complicit in the home demolition policy. We also focus on six British universities: Sheffield […]

The post The role of British universities in supporting Israel’s demolitions of Palestinian Homes appeared first on Corporate Watch.

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By Tom Anderson

Palestinians are calling for people internationally to take action against the companies complicit in Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes. This article focuses on British university partnerships with JCB, Caterpillar, HSBC and Volvo – four companies which are complicit in the home demolition policy. We also focus on six British universities:

In addition 27 UK universities hold investments in HSBC (either directly or indirectly), five invest in Caterpillar and four invest in Volvo.

Some of the information in this article is based on a database prepared by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which details UK university investments and partnerships.

This article is written in support of the Palestinian movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli militarism, colonialism and apartheid. In particular, we hope this will serve as information for action for students taking part in the #ApartheidOffCampus day of action in the UK on November 27th

Israel’s Home demolition policy

The Israel state carries out hundreds of demolitions of Palestinian homes and property every year.i Home demolitions are an integral part of the Israeli state’s continuing colonisation of Palestinian land. 461 demolitions were carried out in 2018 in the West Bank alone.ii

The pretexts given for home demolitions are varied, for example:

  • The land which the homes is on has been declared ’state land’
  • The homes are deemed too close to one of Israel’s expanding colonial settlements
  • The state is carrying out collective punishment against the families of those suspected of being involved in resistance
  • The owners of the homes are deemed not to have proper planning permission (planning permission is almost never granted to Palestinians. Since 2000 only 226 out of 5,475 applications by Palestinians for planning permission in the West Bank have been granted)
  • The land that the homes are on has been deemed ‘agricultural land’, a national park, a site of archaeological interest, a military area or a ‘firing zone’iii

But, whatever the reason given by the Israeli state for demolitions, the overriding motivation is always the same: To push Palestinian communities off the land, and to facilitate the growth of Israeli colonies.

Demolitions within Israel

Home demolitions are ongoing within Israel’s borders too. During 2018, the state demolished the entire village of Al Araqib in the Naqab desert in the south of Israel 13 times.iv On each occasion they were met with steadfast resistance from the residents, and many of the demolished structures have since been rebuilt. In April 2018 the southern village of Um Al Hiran was ethnically cleansed and its structures demolished. It is to be replaced by a new Jewish-only community.v

Call for international solidarity

In September 2018 thousands of Palestinians, along with Israeli and international supporters, were resisting the daily attempts to destroy the entire village of Khan Al Ahmar, a bedouin village close to the expanding settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) issued this call to action against the international companies taking part in the demolition:

The Palestinian BDS National Committee calls for a global civil society effort for preventing the imminent destruction of Khan al-Ahmar. When campaigning for Khan Ahmar and other Palestinian communities at risk of destruction and forcible displacement, we urge everyone to… organize divestment and exclusion-from-tender campaigns against these companies in your trade union, church, university or include these companies in existing campaigns to raise the price of their complicity in egregious human rights violations.”

In July 2019, the Israeli state carried out demolitions on a massive scale in East Jerusalem, reportedly its largest act of ethnic cleansing since the military occupation of 1967.

The BNC wrote at the time:

On Monday, Israel committed its biggest crime of ethnic cleansing since 1967, against the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Hummus in occupied East Jerusalem. In a military raid that began at dawn, Israeli soldiers destroyed, in just a few hours, the homes of hundreds of Palestinian families. This attack came almost immediately after an Israeli military court had authorized the demolitions. Another 116 homes are under imminent threat of demolition in Wadi Hummus.

The magnitude of the crime is not only its sheer scale.

If Israel’s aggressive home demolitions are not stopped now, other Palestinian communities will be next. In Jerusalem alone, at least one third of all Palestinian homes are at risk of demolition. This would mean the forcible displacement of some 100,000 Palestinians…

Israel’s ability to ethnically cleanse the indigenous Palestinian population of Jerusalem and to force Palestinians into Bantustans carved out by its illegal wall and settlements can be hampered by the mobilisation of people power.”

The BNC has specifically called for action against JCB, Volvo and Caterpillar.

The BDS movement is also calling for action against HSBC, as the company has substantial investments in Caterpillar.

Bedouin homes are demolished in Abu Nuwar in July 2018 (Photo by Corporate Occupation)

JCB

British company JCB manufactures civilian and military bulldozers which are used in Israel’s demolitions of Palestinian homes.vi During 2018, Shoal Collective found that JCB machines were used in demolitions of 130 structures, including 2 schools. At least 163 people were made homeless including 31 children.vii

JCB machines were also used in the Israeli demolitions which made thousands of people homeless in Wadi Hummus in July 2019.

Sheffield Hallam University’s partnerships with JCB

Sheffield Hallam University’s (SHU) website refers to JCB as a ‘partner’. The university advertises that it offers vocational apprenticeship programmes in collaboration with JCB. These apprenticeships have been ongoing since 2015. According to the SHU website “[JCB] have developed a number of successful higher and degree apprenticeships with us, delivering a number of benefits to their business”. The website gives a number of examples of student apprentices who have gone on to work at JCB.

These student apprenticeships are a way of JCB increasing its skills base, and are highly beneficial for the company. According to Nigel Ward, a manager for JCB “The advantage it brings to JCB is that we’re slightly ahead of the game in growing our own talent. We get a full spectrum of capabilities coming from an apprenticeship…”

The SHU website even boasts that its apprentices will have a say in “Designing the future of JCB”

SHU also advertises engineering courses which have been designed “in consultation” with JCB. This shows that JCB are able to shape SHU’s courses according to the company’s requirements.

Earlier this year, students at SHU made the following statement about SHU’s relationship with JCB and with other companies complicit in the occupation:

“Sheffield Hallam turns a blind eye any to an ethical framework when it comes to having ties with JCB, BAE Systems, Hewlett Packard, Rolls Royce, Volvo Trucks and Caterpillar. That’s why, following from the successful pass of a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions policy at our Student Union in January 2019, we are on a mission to move beyond words into concrete actions to ensure students’ demands are heard, and their tuition fees are not used in forging such unethical collaborations and fueling more crimes against oppressed communities.”viii

By running this apprenticeship programme in partnership with JCB, SHU is helping JCB with it’s recruitment of skilled workers. In continuing this programme, even when the complicity of JCB in Israel’s home demolitions has been pointed out to the university, SHU is showing complete disregard for the Palestinian communities which are being wrecked by the Israeli state’s home demolitions.

Warwick University’s joint projects with JCB

In 2017 Warwick University collaborated on a research project with JCB. A JCB engineer is quoted on an industry news website, boasting that the project helped JCB to develop their vehicles.

In collaborating with JCB on the project, Warwick University is ignoring the calls from Palestine to raise the price” of JCB’s complicity in home demolitions.

NMITE Hereford

Britain’s newest university, the ‘New Model in Technology & Engineering’ (NMITE) Hereford has an ‘advisor’ from JCB.

Caterpillar

A soldier uses a Caterpillar military bulldozer to terrorise protesters in Kafr Qaddum.Photo by Mohamad Torokman.

 

US multinational company Caterpillar has become infamous for its support of the occupation. The company supplies D9 and D10 armoured military bulldozers, which are used in all of the Israeli military’s demolitions in the Gaza Strip.ix

Caterpillar machines are also used in the Israeli state’s punitive home demolitions, where the military destroys the homes and property of the families of Palestinians suspected of involvement in resistance against the occupation.x During 2018 Shoal Collective found that Caterpillar bulldozers were used in 7 punitive demolitions, and 86 invasions of the Gaza Strip.xi Caterpillar machines were also used in at least three of the demolitions of the entire village of Al Araqib.xii

Caterpillar bulldozers were used in the mass demolitions in Wadi Hummus in July 2019.

According to Shoal Collective:

“The D9 bulldozer is the Israeli military’s weapon of choice when carrying out its punitive demolitions, in contravention of international law. These demolitions are acts of collective punishment, aimed at wreaking vengeance on the families of Palestinians who are suspected of resistance.

Caterpillar’s non-military bulldozers are regularly used in Israel’s home demolitions in the West Bank, in settlement building and in working on Israel’s apartheid wall. They are also used to build roadblocks and checkpoints.”xiii

Caterpillar and Sheffield Hallam University

Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) offers year long work placements with Caterpillar on some of its Automotive Engineering, Logistics&Supply Chain Management and Electrical&Electronic engineering courses. The university boasts that many of its graduates have gone on to work for the company.

Cambridge University

Cambridge University has partnered with Caterpillar through the Cambridge University Service Alliance (CUSA). The Alliance gives companies the ability to “influence and commission” research, as well as promote their brand.

While preparations were underway to destroy the entire village of Khan al Ahmar last Spring, CUSA were promoting Caterpillar’s participation in a trade conference in Dubai. As Caterpillar machines prepared the ground for the demolitions in August 2018, CUSA published an article about the unveiling of new research at Caterpillar’s premises in the UK.

Arms dealer BAE, which has sold weapons to Israel, and Cemex, which owns the company that provided cement for Israel’s apartheid wall have also been a part of Cambridge University Service Alliance.

Last year, 40 Cambridge University student groups signed a call for Cambridge to end its partnerships with BAE and Caterpillar. The statement reads:

“We, the undersigned, call on the University of Cambridge to immediately terminate its partnership with Caterpillar Inc. and BAE Systems, as part of the Cambridge Service Alliance. By maintaining this relationship, the University has made itself, and us, shamefully complicit in war crimes…

As highlighted by Human Rights Watch, Caterpillar Inc. supplies the militarized D9 bulldozers used by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to demolish thousands of Palestinian homes, making way for Jewish-only settlements.”

Loughborough University

The partnership between Loughborough University and Caterpillar has been ongoing since the 1990s. Loughborough University has been given “UK Partnership status” by the company and a high percentage of Caterpillar’s new graduate employees have historically been from Loughborough University.

According to research by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, “Loughborough University and Caterpillar UK Ltd have signed a partnership agreeing to collaborate on research to investigate new technologies for future Caterpillar products. The Caterpillar Innovation and Research Centre, part of Loughborough’s School of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering, works closely with Caterpillar to develop new engineering processes and components.”xiv

This close collaboration with Caterpillar makes Loughborough University deeply complicit in the war crimes being carried out with Caterpillar equipment in Palestine. There has been a high profile global campaign against Caterpillar’s role in the occupation since 2003, so the management of Loughborough University cannot claim not to know what their partner is up to. To continue the partnership shows complete disregard for the Palestinian people experiencing Israel’s racist home demolition policy.

The following UK universities hold investments in Caterpillar (either directly or through an investment fund):

  • University of Manchester
  • London School of Economics
  • Royal Academy of Music
  • University of Aberdeen
  • University of Glasgowi

Protest outside the HSBC AGM. Photo from bdsmovement.net

HSBC

HSBC is a major investor in Caterpillar. A coalition of UK based Palestine Solidarity groups is calling for HSBC to drop its investments in Caterpillar. According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, HSBC has “£100million worth of shares in Caterpillar, [whose] equipment is used to bulldoze Palestinian homes and build illegal settlements.”

University College London (UCL)

HSBC is a sponsor of the Centre for Ethics and Law at UCL. The centre claims that it “promotes and enhances collaboration between corporates, practitioners, civil servants, academics and others around the broad themes of professional ethics and the ethics of risk”

Arms dealer BAE Systems is also a sponsor of the Centre.

The following UK universities hold investments in HSBC (either directly or through an investment fund):

  • Glasgow Caledonian University
  • University of Strathclyde
  • University of Leeds
  • University of Manchester
  • University of Reading
  • University of Sheffield
  • University of Stirling
  • Plymouth Marjon University
  • University College London
  • Royal Holloway University of London
  • Royal Academy of Music
  • University of York
  • University of Glasgow
  • Lancaster University
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • University of Dundee
  • Newcastle University
  • University of Surrey
  • University of Central Lancashire
  • University of Birmingham
  • Coventry University
  • University of Aberdeen
  • Aberystwyth University
  • University of Leicester
  • The Institute of Cancer Research
  • University of Derby
  • London School of Economicsi

A Volvo bulldozer demolishes a home in the South Hebron Hills in 2018

Volvo

According to Shoal Collective, Volvo machines were used in the demolition of at least 102 structure in the West Bank during 2018, including two schools. Volvo equipment was used by the Israeli state to destroy the entire village of Al Araqib eight times.xv

Sheffield Hallam University (SHU)

Volvo Trucks is an industry partner of SHU, and several of its courses advertise that graduates have gone on to work for Volvo.

Volvo Trucks is part of Volvo Group (AB Volvo), which controls the manufacture of the bulldozers used in Israel’s home demolitions.xvi

The following UK universities hold investments in Volvo (either directly or through an investment fund):

  • London School of Economics
  • University of Aberdeen
  • University of Leicester
  • The University of Glasgow i

 

Featured image is of Palestinians protesting demolitions in Khan al Ahmar in 2018, picture by Active Stills

Tom Anderson is part of Shoal Collective, and co-edits the Corporate Occupation website.

 

Footnotes:

viii Statement from SHU students received via Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK.

xiv Information from database compiled by Palestine Solidarity campaign UK.

xvi https://corporateoccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2019/03/resisting-demolitions-ebook-v2.pdf, page 148.

i Information from database compiled by Palestine Solidarity campaign UK through Freedom of Information requests.

 

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Who’s gentrifying Deptford? Identifying the profiteers, making strategies https://corporatewatch.org/whos-gentrifying-deptford-identifying-the-profiteers-making-strategies/ Wed, 27 Feb 2019 14:15:33 +0000 https://corporatewatch.org/?p=6748 [responsivevoice_button] On Saturday 23 February Corporate Watch ran a meeting called “Who’s gentrifying Deptford?”, hosted by the Save Reginald Save Tidemill campaign. The meeting was packed out – 50 or so people squeezed into the Frankham Street “Pink Palace”, or listened outside through the open doorway. People came from estates facing demolition and development in […]

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On Saturday 23 February Corporate Watch ran a meeting called “Who’s gentrifying Deptford?”, hosted by the Save Reginald Save Tidemill campaign. The meeting was packed out – 50 or so people squeezed into the Frankham Street “Pink Palace”, or listened outside through the open doorway. People came from estates facing demolition and development in Deptford and New Cross, from other parts of Lewisham, and from as far away as Brent.

Our aim for the meeting was to think through how gentrification works in a neighbourhood like Deptford and so help people develop strategies to fight it effectively. We started by flagging up two big questions: Who decides? And who profits?

Click here for a working list of 15 current development schemes in Deptford.

Picture: It often starts with a “Masterplan”, here for the Convoys Wharf development in north Deptford.

Who Decides?

It’s often very clear who doesn’t decide. In the Tidemill development, for example, the residents of Reginald House strongly oppose demolition of their homes but have been refused any say in the matter. More generally, most people living in gentrifying neighbourhoods have very little control over the changes taking place.

So who does cook up gentrification projects? The local council is often the first suspect. People at the meeting recalled how the Tidemill development started with council officers drawing up a “Masterplan” for the area, working with corporate consultants and other “experts”. They made a show of consulting local people through public meetings with “patronising” architects and PR wonks.

Behind the scenes, actual decisions are made in closed meetings between council executives, senior councillors – and property developers. At best, residents are allowed a say on small details, or get to haggle over a few dozen “affordable” flats.

The typical outcome? Developers get approval to cram yet more luxury flats and hipster markets into the area; working class residents are told they should be grateful for even a small number of so-called “affordable” homes. In Deptford and New Cross, over 5,000 new homes are currently being planned in what is already the densest part of Lewisham. Just a tiny handful of these will be for “social rent”.

Picture: Lewisham mayor Damien Egan with fans.

Meet the investors

So the most obvious decision-makers are council bosses – both elected councillors and professional officers – and the property developers they work hand in glove with. But there is another, deeper, level of power behind these. The property development companies are funded by – and ultimately answerable to – investors who make big profits out of sky-high property prices.

In the meeting, we looked at some of the main investors behind developments in Deptford. There are billionaires like Li Ka Shing, whose Hong Kong based family empire is behind the enormous 3,500 home development at Convoys Wharf – the old Royal Dockyard and now London’s biggest empty building site. There are massive global investment funds like BlackRock – which owns chunks of Lendlease, Grainger, and quite probably other development companies active in the area.

There are also specialist private equity investors like M3 Capital and Oaktree – one of the infamous “vulture funds” known for buying up debts of countries like Greece, but also behind the Anthology company which owns the Deptford Foundry skyscraper. And smaller figures like businessmen Tom Mulligan and James Gant, who own Bluecroft, the company developing No 1 Creekside.

Click here for an in depth look at these investors.

All for charity?

But what about the line, pushed by Lewisham councillors, that schemes like Tidemill are different, because the developers involved are “non profit” housing associations like Peabody?

As we have previously reported, the truth is that Peabody is “non profit” only in a technical sense. Nowadays only one third of its new buildings are for “social rent”, with most of its effort going into building homes for sale and rent at market levels. It’s true that it doesn’t have “shareholders” who get a share of profits (in payments called dividends). But it does have a chief executive on £300,000 a year, and 50 other managers earning over £100,000.

And it certainly does have powerful investors. Instead of selling shares, Peabody and other big housing associations sell corporate bonds. Many bond investors are likely to be just the same big investment funds, the likes of BlackRock, who invest in other developers. But as the bond market is much less regulated than the share market, it’s much harder to find out who they are.

Picture: Bob Kerslake, Peabody chairman

Who profits?

So the second big question we looked at was: who profits, who gains, from these schemes?

Obviously, the investors who buy shares or bonds in the development companies get paid dividends or interest in return for their investments. And also the managers who rake in often huge salaries and bonuses. But we also looked at other kinds of “gains” beyond the obviously financial. For example, what motivates councillors to push development schemes?

Certainly, there can be financial benefits. For example, it’s well known how some politicians like Southwark’s council leader Peter John collect dozens of reported gifts from developers like Lendlease.

But another issue is probably much bigger than obvious gifts: the culture of “revolving doors” between councils and developers. Councillors and council managers spend a lot of time meeting and networking with developers. Later, many get jobs as well-paid corporate executives or “consultants”. So in the long run, they certainly profit from their connections in the development world. When there’s a few years of delay between service rendered and payment returned, it’s somehow no longer considered “corruption”.

Still, not all cuddling up with developers is driven by money. For example, many ambitious politicians use council seats as part of their climb up the greasy ladder towards parliament. They may use schemes to build a reputation for “getting things done” and for being friendly to business. These characters may be chasing power and status rather than just financial gain.

Finally, many councillors and managers no doubt genuinely believe they are doing the best they can. They have swallowed whole the line that there is “no alternative” to this kind of development. And it’s much easier to maintain this story because they don’t directly feel the pain of gentrification themselves. Its notable that the councillors pushing Tidemill are all home-owners on comfortable salaries. None of them face having their own homes demolished or being priced out of their local shops. As people said at the meeting, they are part of the “political class” – which is tightly interconnected with the business class, and shares similar values and assumptions.

Picture: Councillor Joe Dromey, “red prince” of New Cross

Identifying the decision-makers

In the second part of the meeting, we zoomed in on a concrete example. We made a “mind map” of the key players making decisions about, and making money from, the Tidemill scheme.

At the top of most people’s list were two: Peabody Homes, and Lewisham Council – including particular councillors and senior officials who have been active in driving the scheme. Another “for profit” developer, Sherrygreen Homes, is also involved alongside Peabody. Although Lewisham councillors have recently been downplaying the role of Sherrygreen, it is believed to still be very much part of the scheme. We also discussed the investors funding Peabody and Sherrygreen.

But as well as the council and its “developer partner”, a host of other players are also necessary to make the scheme happen. These include the building contractor, Mulalley, and the architects Pollard Thomas Evans (buildings) and BDP (landscape).

Other contractors include consultancies and demolition companies. In recent months, a lot of focus has been on two contractors playing a vital role at the current early stage: security guards, and tree surgeons. The council paid well over £1 million to its original security contractor, County Enforcement, who we profiled in November.

After Corporate Watch exposed County’s union-busting history, councillor Paul Bell, Lewisham’s cabinet member for housing, promised to replace them with a different firm (while their anti-union history bothered him, he had nothing to say about their recent assaults at Tidemill). This appeared to finally happen on 18 February. The new security guards have been instructed to tell people that they are directly employed by the council. When asked, they refused to give their manager’s name, or to identify any contracting firm.

A tree surgeon firm called Artemis began cutting trees back in November 2018. After many people asked them to stop – at the site, and also by email and on social media – they pulled out of the contract after the first day. (At the time of writing in March 2019, Lewisham has been able to go ahead with tree cutting after bringing in another company from Gloucestershire.)

Picture: Larry Fink (right), CEO of BlackRock, with other big property investors.

Weak points

Fighting gentrification is a David and Goliath battle against the massed power of finance capital and politics. On the front line, that comes down to the armies of police and private security guards used to push through developments like Tidemill when people resist.

To have any chance of beating them, people may need to think strategically, and deploy cunning and creativity against their brute force. After identifying the gentrification players, we started to think about strategies: now we know who is doing this, how can we fight them? Does it make sense to target some players in particular? What actions might lead different ones to drop or pull out of the scheme? What “leverage” can campaigners find to influence them? What are their weak points?

For example, take BlackRock, which finances and profits from various Deptford developments. It is one of the world’s greatest financial empires, based in the US. What could the 50 odd campaigners sitting in the Deptford pink palace do to stop BlackRock stop gentrifying the neighbourhood? The likely answer: sweet nothing.

On the other hand, the Tidemill campaign had already had two small victories: getting County Security’s contract cancelled, and persuading Artemis Trees to pull out themselves.

There was no doubt in the room that Lewisham Council, too, has been feeling pressure from the campaign. Its “socialist” mask slips badly when it sends an army of security guards to destroy a community project and people’s homes, revealing the brutal arrogance of the careerists at the top. We also discussed how the campaign is linking up with Peabody tenants across London, who are increasingly challenging neglect and profiteering by their landlord.

We won’t go into more detail here on the strategic ideas discussed. We’ll just say there was a really strong positive energy in the room. The battle for Tidemill is still far from over. But also, it’s an example of impassioned resistance, and its spreading. On Saturday people from across Deptford, Lewisham, and beyond, were sharing ideas and strategising together about how to fight off new developments.

iPeople in the meeting raised the example of local New Cross councillor Joe Dromey, son of senior Labour politicians Harriet Harman and Jack Dromey. He has already tried once to be selected as MP candidate for Lewisham East, even despite an all female shortlist, and is widely expected to try again soon.

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