Climate campaigners staged a demonstration in the highlands yesterday against a perceived lack of action on rising sea levels.
Members of Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) Inverness branch displayed a banner reading “G7, end economic growth or end the planet” in front of an oil rig in the Highlands village of Invergordon.
A separate sign saying “no future in fossil fuels” was also unfurled.
The rally was intended to draw attention to the threat of sea level rise to coastal communities in the Highlands.
Invergordon is home to the Cromarty Firth Port Authority, which supports oil and gas, subsea and renewables activities in the region.
In recent times, the region has acted as a storage site for unused rigs as the oil and gas downturn caused work to dry up.
The number of platforms sitting idly in the Cromarty Firth has previously led to complaints from nearby residents, with one local councillor describing it as an “oil rig graveyard”.
Elliot Blaauw, a pensioner from Alness, said: “I’m doing this for my grandchildren. If we don’t act now to stop global warming from pollution, we will all suffer. Young people should not have to pay for our mistakes.”
It is not the first time environmental activists have targeted the Cromarty Firth.
In 2019, five Greenpeace protestors boarded the TransOcean-owned vessel Paul B Loyd, which was berthed in the region ahead of sailing to BP’s Vorlich North Sea oilfield.
The protest in Invergordon was one of a number carried out by XR yesterday as part of its ‘Make the Wave’ campaign, which has been organised ahead of the 47th G7 Summit in Cornwall later this week.
On the other side of the Moray Firth in Forres, activists dressed up in Edwardian period costumes and staged a tea party on Findhorn Beach.
As the tide came in the group were submerged, an intended lampoon on the “political class’s inaction on climate change”.
A group of rebels in hand-made Edwardian period costumes have dinner & drinks at a table on the beach. As they dine, the group are submerged by the rising tide, satirising the political class’s inaction on climate change.#g7wave #MakeTheWave
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 pic.twitter.com/7aBv5LsNTo— Extinction Rebellion Scotland 🌍 (@ScotlandXr) June 7, 2021
Similar demonstrations were held in Glasgow, Dundee, Gairloch, and Edinburgh over the course of the day.
XR is planning to carry out stunts over the next two days up and down the UK.
Starting in Scotland and finishing in Cornwall, where world leaders will meet on June 11-13, the action is designed to resemble a wave running the length of the UK.
Kate MacLachlan, a mental health officer from Drumnadrochit, said: “Boris Johnson recently committed to a 78% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.
“G7 presents an opportunity to explain exactly how the UK will achieve that target, and to seek similar commitments from the leaders of the world’s richest nations. Climate disasters, like Covid, respect no national boundaries, so support from the G7 to the Global South to reduce their emissions is also essential.”
Last week, protestors blockaded the entrance to Peterhead Power Station, previously branded Scotland’s worst air polluter.
They were calling out site operator SSE’s sponsorship of the COP26 climate conference, accusing the firm of “greenwashing”.