For a few minutes at least, the sun broke through this dreary imposter of a summer and shone on the thirty or so Climate Choir protesters in East London’s Olympic Park. They sang against a backdrop of the Olympic stadium and the Orbit. This structure had been financed by ArcelorMittal, the steel corporation, and designed by Anish Kapoor, the sculptor. Although it may have some artistic merits, the observation tower has not been very successful. A slide has been added to try and transform the white elephant into a commercial success. Its failure symbolises the mess that steel corporations make of nature and our society. People do not really have much of a say in how many millions are invested and labour hours expended in the projects we are left with. There is a grotesque mismatch between what we are given and what we and nature really need.
“Its failure symbolises the mess that steel corporations make of nature and our society. People do not really have much of a say in how many millions are invested and labour hours expended in the projects we are left with.”
Last week’s protest was part of an international effort highlighting the environmental impact of ArcelorMittal – one of the world’s biggest steel companies – which is a major sponsor of the Paris Olympic Games. The Paris Olympics will hold the attention of thousands of millions around the world. Here is the official statement from the campaign that organised the protest:
ArcelorMittal claims that it is a responsible steelmaker, but it continues making steel with the dirty flames of coal. In the lead-up to the Olympic Games in Paris, it is attempting to ‘sportswash’ its image through its Olympics sponsorship, while it is backtracking on its decarbonisation plans, and its operations routinely damage people’s health and violate human rights. Organisations around the world are demanding ArcelorMittal take responsibility and act on its climate and human rights impacts.
Shiny Claims, Dirty Flames is a campaign targeting the second-largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, to create pressure to change its social and environmental practices by challenging the company’s social licence, its reputation, and the reputational gain it is seeking from Olympics sponsorship.
The coalition of protesters is calling on the company to be a “true champion that protects people and planet” by taking a series of immediate actions: investments in modern pollution control technology at all its plants, compensation payments to farmers and communities who have lost livelihoods due to the company’s iron mining, and final decisions on decarbonising steel production with green hydrogen to decisively shift to near-zero-emissions steel.
“The coalition of protesters is calling on the company to be a ‘true champion that protects people and planet’ by taking a series of immediate actions: investments in modern pollution control technology at all its plants, compensation payments to farmers and communities who have lost livelihoods due to the company’s iron mining, and final decisions on decarbonising steel production with green hydrogen to decisively shift to near-zero-emissions steel.”
“This is the first time groups from multiple countries have come together to collectively challenge a steel maker to lift its game on climate change and human rights. National groups are no longer isolated in their struggles, and while the company is now listening to us, we are still waiting for it to act,” said John Brownell, Fair Steel Coalitions spokesperson and Director of Green Advocates in Liberia.
Website: https://shiny.claims/
Official games sponsor, ArcelorMittal, is showing off its “low-carbon emissions” torch and steel rings. It is facing an unprecedented challenge to go beyond publicity stunts and be a true champion of decarbonisation and human rights.
Across six countries in two continents, environmental defenders, advocacy groups, and communities are challenging ArcelorMittal to clean up its dirty business in a series of actions outside of its facilities in Spain, Liberia, France, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while directly addressing its leadership in Luxembourg and the UK.
The climate choir is singing a message to the Mittals, in their home city of London, because they exert huge control in this global business. Whether ArcelorMittal truly cleans up is not just a question of technology. It is their values and their money, so we call on the Mittals to step up and deliver.
Find out more and hear the songs at the Climate Choir Movement website here.
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