CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

UK
How energy suppliers exploited rules to disconnect customers


Sam Meadows

 The Telegraph 
Thu, 2 February 2023 

A home smart meter showing energy use is seen in the kitchen of a home 

- Phil Noble / REUTERS

Energy providers have entered hundreds of thousands of homes to switch customers to controversial prepayment meters, and millions more could be switched without their suppliers even visiting the property.

Energy firms secured more than 300,000 warrants to enter customers’ homes and change their meters to prepayment in the four years to 2021.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by The Telegraph to the Ministry of Justice revealed that between 2017 and 2021, the largest suppliers secured 311,037 warrants.

Millions more risk having their smart meters flipped to prepayment without their supplier having to enter their homes. Earlier this year, Citizens Advice said that 3.2 million people were left with cold and dark homes in 2022 after running out of credit on their prepayment meter.

Data from Ofgem, the energy regulator, revealed that 260,118 smart meters were switched to prepayment mode remotely in 2021.

Prepayment meters are typically used by suppliers to recover debt, but the tariffs tend to be more expensive than traditional meters and households are at risk of being disconnected from their energy supply completely if they cannot afford the top-ups.

It comes after British Gas, Britain’s biggest energy supplier, was accused of carrying out remote switches despite a previous commitment to stop the practice.

An investigation by the Times revealed that bailiffs acting on behalf of the company had in some instances forced access to the homes of vulnerable customers to change meters. The company’s chief executive Chris O’Shea admitted forced entry had been used and said its contractor had “let us down”.

When can you be switched to a prepayment meter?

Energy firms often use prepayment meters to help recoup debts built up by customers who have fallen behind on repayments. With soaring energy costs there have been fears that more people may find themselves unable to afford their bills.

Suppliers are supposed to exhaust all options to help you meet your costs, including offering a payment plan you can afford, before taking the step of forcibly changing your meter.

They must also give notice before coming to your home – seven days for gas and seven working days for electricity – and 28 days to repay your debt before telling you of the proposed prepayment plan.

You can refuse to be moved to a prepayment meter. Citizens Advice says you can block the change if an illness or disability means you would be harmed if your gas or electricity was cut off.

This is also the case if you cannot get to your meter or top it up – perhaps because you cannot afford it or would be unable to get to a shop.

What support is there for vulnerable customers?

If you classify as vulnerable then you may be eligible for more support. Ofgem says that a vulnerable customer is someone who may be “significantly less able” than others to represent their interests, or who would be more likely than a typical customer to suffer detriment.

Some examples of customers who may be vulnerable would be those of state pension age, disabled people, people with mental health issues, or those who do not speak good English.

Vulnerable customers can apply to be placed on the Priority Services Register – or ask their supplier to register them – which provides priority support in an emergency, advanced notice of power cuts and greater help with meter readings.

Is my smart meter at risk?

While companies must apply for a court warrant to forcibly change a traditional meter to prepayment, smart meters can be switched remotely without the need to enter a home.

Ofgem data showed that between 2017 and 2021, 597,162 smart meters were switched in this way. Households have separate smart meters for gas and electric, so the number of households affected would have been lower.

A spokesman for Smart Energy GB, the lobbying body for the smart meter rollout, said that there are strict rules that mean such switches should only be carried out as a “last resort and only where it is safe to do so”.

He added: “For the hundreds of thousands of people who have chosen a smart meter in prepay mode, there are significant advantages compared with an analogue meter. These include the ability to see your energy use in pounds and pence and to top up online instead of at the shops.”

What support is there if I can’t pay my bills?

Those struggling to afford their gas and electricity bills should, in the first instance, contact their supplier. Most firms have schemes in place to help customers and this could include emergency credit.

You may be able to agree to an affordable payment plan or pay off your debt through any benefits you may be entitled to.

The government debt scheme Breathing Space may also be able to provide you with 60 days to help you get back onto your feet.

What have the other companies been doing?

Octopus Energy said it has installed just 31 prepayment meters via warrant and has used them as a way to control debt less than 200 times.

A spokesman said it suspended all Bulb warrants shortly after taking over and would engage with a customer for at least six months before taking action.

Ovo Energy said it suspended all warrant activity in November last year and it remains suspended. It too says the process takes at least six months and that debt recovery on prepayment meters is suspended until at least next month.

Shell Energy said it has “strict processes” around prepayment installations and suspends them every year in December and January. It uses them only as a “last resort” if a customer has not engaged for at least six months.

EDF Energy said it offers tailored support and visits the customer at home before considering warrants. It said that in 2022 it took action in just half of the 13,766 cases where a warrant was applied for. Forced installations are currently suspended pending a review.

Eon and Scottish Power were approached for comment.

FBI LABEL THEM ECO TERRORISTS
Atlanta shooting part of alarming US crackdown on environmental defenders

Oliver Milman and Nina Lakhani
Thu, 2 February 2023

Photograph: Cheney Orr/Reuters

The shooting of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, believed to be the first environmental defender killed in the US, is the culmination of a dangerous escalation in the criminalization and repression of those who seek to protect natural resources in America, campaigners have warned.

The death of the 26-year-old, who was also known as “Tortuguita” or “Little Turtle,” in a forest on the fringes of Atlanta was the sort of deadly act “people who have been paying attention to this issue assumed would happen soon, with no sense of joy”, according to Marla Marcum, founder of the Climate Disobedience Center, which supports climate protesters.

A photo of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, who was shot and killed by a Georgia state trooper, on a makeshift memorial in Weelaunee People’s Park in Atlanta. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

“The police and the state have a callousness towards the lives of those on the frontline of environmental causes and I hope this is a wake-up call to those who didn’t know that,” she said. “I hope people take the time to notice what’s going on, because if this trajectory of criminalization continues, no one is going to be safe.”

Terán was shot and killed by police as officers from an assortment of forces swept through the small camp of a loose-knit activist group defending the urban forest on 18 January. Police say Terán shot and injured a Georgia state trooper with a handgun first, but the Georgia bureau of investigation has said the shooting was not recorded on body cameras, prompting calls for an independent investigation.Interactive

State and local authorities have reacted aggressively to protesters trying to stop 85 acres of the forest being torn down to build a sprawling, state-of-the-art, $90m police training complex – dubbed “Cop City” by opponents as it will feature a mock city for “tactical” exercises.

Nineteen forest defenders have been charged with felonies under Georgia’s domestic terrorism laws since December. Authorities have detailed the alleged acts of so-called terror by nine of those facing charges, which include trespassing, constructing a campsite and sitting in the trees of the woodland, a 300-acre wedge of land that once contained a prison farm but is now one of the largest urban forests in the US.

Brian Kemp, the Georgia governor who declared a state of emergency and mobilized 1,000 members of the national guard over the protests, has blamed “out-of-state rioters” and a “network of militant activists who have committed similar acts of domestic terrorism across the country” for the troubles.

Georgia’s response to the protests follows an alarming pattern of environmental and land rights defenders across the US being threatened, arrested and charged with increasingly drastic crimes, including terrorism, for opposing oil and gas pipelines or the destruction of forests or waterways, advocates claim.

Related: ‘Assassinated in cold blood’: activist killed protesting Georgia’s ‘Cop City’

“This was meant as a chilling deterrent, to show that the state can kill and jail environmental defenders with impunity. It reflects a trend towards escalation and violence to distract from the real issue of advancing corporate interests over lands,” said Nick Estes, author of Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance.

The current crackdown on environmental and land rights defenders can be traced back to the aftermath of 9/11 and the expansion of the definition of terrorism which sparked a wave of arrests known as the “green scare” targeting so-called eco- terrorists.

This then spurred the subsequent proliferation of state legislation criminalizing – or at least attempting to criminalize – all kinds of civil disobedience including Black Lives Matter protests and opposition to fossil fuel projects like gas pipelines, defined as critical infrastructure, essentially to protect business interests over environmental and Indigenous sovereignty concerns.

“The criminalization of land and water protectors and Indigenous nations using critical infrastructure security laws can be traced back to the Patriot Act. This has contributed to the current escalation as it allows the definition of terrorism to be more vague and expansive, which is intended to have a chilling effect on peaceful protesters,” said Kai Bosworth, author of Pipeline Populism and assistant professor of geography at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The 2016-17 uprising against the Dakota Access oil pipeline (DAPL), which cut through the Standing Rock reservation in North and South Dakota and threatened tribal lands, burial sites and water sources, sparked a brutal response by authorities that can be seen as a before and after in how environmental defenders are policed.

Law enforcement used automatic rifles, sound cannons, concussion grenades and police dogs against protesters, leading to hundreds of injuries as personnel and equipment poured in from over 75 agencies across the country. Indigenous leaders and journalists were among hundreds of arrests – including 142 on a single day in October 2016 – with scores facing felony charges and hefty fines.Interactive

Since then, a total of 20 states have enacted laws that impose harsh penalties for impeding “critical infrastructure”, such as making trespass a felony offense, or have brought in vaguely defined domestic terrorism laws that have been used to target environmentalists and Indigenous communities. Overall, 45 states have considered legislation restricting peaceful protests, and seven currently have laws pending.

These laws have “been successful in really tamping down dissent and sowing fear among people”, said Marcum. Much of this fear has been fueled by the labeling of protestors as “terrorists” by senior elected figures such as Kemp, according to Elly Page, senior legal advisor at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, which has tracked the anti-protest bills.

“We see autocrats around the world use rhetoric like that to clamp down on dissent,” Page said. “The widespread demonization of protestors we’ve seen from politicians who call them terrorists or a mob is incredibly harmful. I think that creates an environment where violence against protestors is not unlikely and that more of these tragedies will take place.”

Related: This lawyer should be world-famous for his battle with Chevron – but he’s in jail | Erin Brockovich

Many of the states’ legislation shares language drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), a rightwing group backed by fossil fuel companies.

In Florida, South Dakota and Oklahoma, for example, a “riot” is considered to be any unauthorized action by three or more people, while in Florida, Oklahoma and Iowa drivers who injure protestors blocking traffic, a common tactic used by environmental activists, are given legal immunity.

In Arkansas, an “act of terrorism” is considered to be anything that causes “substantial damage” to a public “monument”, which could include graffiti. Across 17 Republican-controlled states, protesters face up to 10 years in prison and million-dollar fines for offences.

The broad application of these laws, as well as accompanying legislation that criminalize people and organizations that support allegedly dangerous protestors, “chill activism and make it riskier for people to be involved in their right to protest”, said Page.

Police use a water cannon on protesters during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota in 2016. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Reuters

“Many of the laws have language so broad it makes constitutionally-protected speech illegal,” she said. “It gives authorities discretion to apply the law to an activity they don’t like … We know fossil fuel interests are promoting these sorts of laws.”

As the criminalization of peaceful protesters has spread, so has the rollout of new fossil fuel projects projects under both Democrat and Republican administrations – despite the escalation of costly and destructive extreme weather events caused by the climate breakdown.

“There have been no effective federal efforts to help protesters or defend against criminalization,” said Charmaine Chua, assistant professor of global studies at the University of California. “If you’ve been paying attention at the way cops indiscriminately kill people and the virulent antipathy towards protest movements trying to solve climate change, it’s hard to be surprised at Manuel’s death but still it does feel unprecedented.”

Related: Indigenous tribes tried to block a car battery mine. But the courts stood in the way

Sabine von Mering, one of around 900 protestors who were arrested for opposing the Line 3 pipeline that moves oil through Minnesota, said she was “deeply shocked” to hear of Terán’s killing but that she hoped it will galvanize more people to get involved in climate activism. “Any criminalization of protest is an attack on our democracy,” said von Mering, an academic at Brandeis University.

“At Line 3 there were several cases of police being extremely aggressive and violent, it was traumatizing to witness it and I’m an old white lady – I didn’t experience the worst of it. The charges were used to intimidate and quell protest.”

To critics of the fossil fuel industry, the Line 3 protests are a prime example of its ability to shape the law enforcement that is increasingly cracking down on its opponents. In 2021 it emerged that Enbridge, the Canadian company behind the pipeline, reimbursed US police $2.4m for arresting and surveilling hundreds of Line 3 demonstrators. The payments covered officer training, police surveillance, wages, overtime, meals, hotels and equipment.

Police officers detain a demonstrator as people protest the Line 3 pipeline.

 Photograph: Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters

Steven Donziger, an attorney who was embroiled in a long-running legal battle with Chevron on behalf of Indigenous people in Ecuador, said the payments are part of a “dangerous trend” of fossil fuel influence over the functions of government and the law.

“As we get closer to tipping point of no return on climate change, the effort to silence advocacy to have clean energy transition is intensifying,” Donziger said. “To attack young people who are trying to preserve a forest with a military-style assault is totally inappropriate but is unfortunately a sad reflection of where the country has gone.

“For weeks these people were called terrorists, which is a complete misuse of the word. The police have been conditioned to believe these people are terrorists and what do you do with terrorists? In the US you kill them. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

UK Campaigners unveil plaque on MP's door to commemorate vote on Environment Bill

Miranda Norris
Wed, 1 February 2023 

Campaigners unveil plaque on MP's door to commemorate vote on Environment Bill (Image: Public)

Environmental campaigners unveiled a commemorative plaque on the door of an MP's constituency office as part of a mass action against MPs who voted against an amendment to the Environment Bill.

Witney's Robert Courts was one of those MPs and local activists unveiled the commemorative plaque as part of a national campaign, coordinated by the Dirty Water campaign group.

Dirty Water was started by Extinction Rebellion rebels, but includes activists from other ecology and environmental campaign groups.

Oxford Mail:

It says its purpose is "to raise awareness of the damage done to the UK's inland and coastal waters by water companies, industries and agribusinesses, enabled by this country's indulgent politicians and the undermining of regulatory enforcement".

READ ALSO: Teachers strike - 30 picket lines forming across Oxfordshire

Dirty Water's fist mass action was the unveiling of blue plaques around the UK last Saturday at the offices of the 265 MPs who voted against an amendment to the Environment Bill.

The amendment, which was first put forward by the Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords, proposed forcing large companies, such as Thames Water, to ‘take all reasonable steps’ to avoid sewage overflowing into rivers.

Most Conservative MPs including Mr Courts voted against the amendment and it was voted down by 268 votes to 204.

Steve Conlon, of Dirty Water, said: "Instead it was decided to incentivise them to make improvements or be fined.

"Since privatisation, water companies have done little to prevent sewage spills, despite making £2.8 billion profit in 2021.

"Last summer alone, over 90 beaches were closed to the public after water companies discharged sewage into the waters which left beaches contaminated with human sewage.

"In December 2022 the Environment Agency announced it was pushing back targets to clean up England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters from 2027 to 2063, adding further risk to vulnerable ecosystems and precious water resources."

Mr Courts said it was a "wholly disingenuous allegation".

He said: "Instead of wasting time with disingenuous publicity stunts, Extinction Rebellion campaigners need to look at the facts.

"The Environment Act is amongst the most ambitious environmental legislation in the world. It will significantly improve water quality and reduce discharges.

"In eliminating storm overflows, we are talking about transforming a system which has operated since the Victorian Era.

"The truth is that we cannot transform such a system overnight with a blanket ban on sewage discharges. The result would be sewage backing up into pipes and flooding into peoples’ homes and on the streets.

Oxford Mail:

"Setting out lofty aspirations is all well and good, but first we need to do the long, technical, practical work required to understand how we can deliver on these ambitions."

He said the Water Framework Directive that requires all waterbodies (river, lakes, groundwater, transitional, coastal) to attain 'Good Water Status' (qualitative and quantitative) by 2027 remains.

"The target for ‘good ecological status of waters’ is still 2027 and it is wholly incorrect that this has been pushed back to 2063," he said.

"This is a legal target and is set out in the Water Framework Directive.

"This wholly disingenuous allegation refers to an exemption for a small number of persistent chemicals that cannot be entirely removed except through time.

"This exemption is set out in the Water Framework Directive and is an issue facing countries across the EU as well."

He added: "The Government has a track record of voting for a serious, sensible and deliverable plan to tackle this issue, whilst others have misled the public by making wildly inaccurate claims."

Read more from this author

This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris

Profile: Miranda Norris Journalists news from the Oxford Mail

THIS CAUSED INFLATION

Exxon smashes Western oil majors' earnings record with $56 billion profit for 2022

Tue, January 31, 2023 
By Sabrina Valle

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp posted a $56 billion profit for 2022, the company said on Tuesday, taking home about $6.3 million per hour last year, and setting not only a company record but a historic high for the Western oil industry.

Oil majors are expected to break their own annual records on high prices and soaring demand, pushing their combined take to near $200 billion. The scale has renewed criticism of the oil industry and sparked calls for more countries to levy windfall profit taxes on the companies.

Exxon's results far exceeded the then-record $45.2 billion net profit it reported in 2008, when oil hit $142 per barrel, 30% above last year's average price. Deep cost cuts during the pandemic helped supercharge last year's earnings.

"Overall earnings and cashflow were up pretty significantly year on year," Exxon Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells told Reuters. "So that came really from a combination of strong markets, strong throughput, strong production, and really good cost control."

Exxon said it incurred a $1.3 billion hit to its fourth-quarter earnings from a European Union windfall tax that began in the final quarter and from asset impairments. The company is suing the EU, arguing that the levy exceeds its legal authority.

Excluding charges, profit for the full year was $59.1 billion. Production was up by about 100,000 barrels of oil and gas per day over a year ago to 3.8 million bpd. Adjusted per share profit of $3.40 beat consensus of $3.29 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Shares were down 1.5% in pre-market trading to $111.88.

WINDFALL TAXES

The results may set up another confrontation with the White House. President Joe Biden's administration on Friday blasted oil firms for pouring cash into shareholder payouts rather than production.

Exxon boasted that its cash flow from operations soared to $76.8 billion last year, up from $48.1 billion in 2021.

Windfall profit taxes are "unlawful and bad policy," countered Mikells. Slapping new taxes on oil earnings "has the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve," she said, adding that it would discourage new oil and gas production.

Exxon posted $14 billion in fourth-quarter profit excluding charges, 60% more than the same period last year but down almost 25% from the previous quarter as oil prices eased and some operations suffered from cold-weather-related outages.

A general view of a new crude distillation unit under construction at Exxon Mobil's refinery in Beaumont, Texas, U.S., November 23, 2022. REUTERS/Erwin Seba

PROJECT SPENDING

Exxon's spending on new oil and gas projects bounced back last year to $22.7 billion, up 37% from the prior year. The company increased outlays on discoveries in Guyana, in the top U.S. shale field, and on fuel refining and chemicals.

"The counter-cyclical investments we made before and during the pandemic provided the energy and products people needed as economies began recovering," Exxon Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said in a statement.

Its results come ahead of what are expected to be strong earnings from Shell plc on Thursday and from BP plc and TotalEnergies next week.

(Reporting by Sabrina Valle; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Mark Porter)

Exxon’s record $56 billion profit has renewed the White House’s outrage at oil companies



Ananya Bhattacharya
Wed, February 1, 2023 

ExxonMobil raked in $55.7 billion in annual profits, shattering a 2008 record of $45 billion and setting a new goalpost for American and European fossil fuel companies.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the stellar annual profits came on the back of “a favorable market”—a combination of recovery in activity after covid and prices skyrocketing since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022—but credited the firm with taking advantage of the undersupplied market. “We leaned in when others leaned out,” he said.

While Woods celebrated the result, the White House called it “outrageous.” The Biden administration has been calling on oil companies, which receive hundreds of billions of dollars in public subsidies, to reinvest their profits to increase oil production to alleviate supply constraints following Russia’s war in Ukraine and lower energy prices.

Those calls have largely been ignored as fossil fuel giants see their recent earnings as well deserved after two years of pandemic restrictions hurt demand and their bottom line. Just last week, Chevron posted a record $36.5 billion profit for 2022 and announced a share buyback program—a move the Biden administration criticized.

While Democrats have condemned excessive corporate profits, Republicans, who tend to be heavily funded by the oil and gas industry, have blamed Biden’s policies for keeping gas prices high. Gas prices in the US peaked in June and then started decreasing as Biden released 180 million barrels of crude from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve over several months. Gas prices are currently back at the level they displayed this time last year, before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Charted: American consumers pay record amounts for gas

datawrapper-chart-efNmr

Quotable: White House irked by Exxon’s record profit

“It’s outrageous that Exxon has posted a new record for Western oil company profits after the American people were forced to pay such high prices at the pump amidst [Russian president Vladimir] Putin’s invasion. The latest earnings reports make clear that oil companies have everything they need, including record profits and thousands of unused but approved permits, to increase production, but they’re instead choosing to plow those profits into padding the pockets of executives and shareholders while House Republicans manufacture excuse after excuse to shield them from any accountability.” —White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan

Exxon’s flourishing (again)

Back in 2013, Exxon was the world’s largest company. But in 2020, after the pandemic sent oil prices plummeting, it was among the energy companies plagued by massive losses. For the first time in decades, Exxon recorded an annual loss of $22 billion that year. The longest-tenured member of the Dow at 92 years, the oil major was embarrassingly ousted from the index in August 2020.

A little under two years later, though, Exxon has recovered. In June 2022, its stock was up over 150% since Dow Jones dropped it. Meanwhile, the company that replaced the oil giant on the index, Salesforce, was down 30%.

One big number: $190 billion

$190 billion: The estimated combined profit of oil majors Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies for 2022, according to a Jan. 27 CNBC report citing Refinitiv analysts.
Should oil companies in the US pay a windfall tax?

Europe has imposed a 33% windfall tax on energy companies’ surplus profits. Britain is charging a 25% energy profits levy. California has been weighing something similar, and the US president has suggested putting one in place as well if companies don’t voluntarily repatriate profits.

The reception to such a tax won’t be without resistance. Exxon has sued to block the EU tax, which is set to cost the company an estimated $1.8 billion for 2022. “This tax will undermine investor confidence, discourage investment, and increase reliance on imported energy and fuel products,” the company said.

Shell announces record annual profits of £32.2bn after energy price surge


Wed, 1 February 2023 


Shell has announced annual profits of $39.9bn (£32.2bn), doubling from a year earlier and far exceeding the previous record of $31bn in 2008.

The London-listed company also posted record fourth-quarter earnings of $9.8bn (£7.9bn).

The profits - which were even higher than the $38.17bn (£30.8bn) analysts had expected - came thanks to bumper gas prices as Russia's invasion of Ukraine led countries to wean themselves off Russian fuel imports.

The majority of profits came from Shell's gas operations.

It is just the latest energy company to announce record profits as prices rose in the wake of the invasion. This week oil and gas company Exxon Mobil recorded net profit in 2022 of $56bn (£45.25bn), a record high for the entire Western oil industry.

Pressure has mounted on businesses over those profits as consumers struggle with a cost of living crisis, with both the EU and UK announcing a windfall one-off tax on energy company profits.

Those taxes will mean Shell faces an estimated $2.3bn (£1.86bn) in charges for the full year, the firm reported on Thursday.

In January, Shell estimated those tax payments are to hit the company by around $2bn (£1.7bn) in the final three months of its financial year.

The UK windfall tax, announced under Rishi Sunak as chancellor, means oil and gas firms pay a 25% levy on profits - but companies will get tax breaks worth 91p for every £1 invested.

Shell chief executive Wael Sawan said: "Our results in Q4 and across the full year demonstrate the strength of Shell's differentiated portfolio, as well as our capacity to deliver vital energy to our customers in a volatile world.

"We believe that Shell is well positioned to be the trusted partner through the energy transition."

It follows a year when consumers grappled with spiralling energy costs which has fed into persistent double-digit inflation.

The average cost of a litre of unleaded was at a record high of 191.5p in July, marking a good year for Shell.

In October, it reported operating profits of $9.5bn for the third quarter, lower than that of the three months before but still more than double the same period in 2021.

A record $11.5bn profit was announced for the second quarter, more than double the 2021 figure of $5.5bn (£4.5bn).

The first quarter also saw a record operating profit of $9.1bn.


Oil giant Shell reports highest profits in 115 years as energy prices soar


Adam Robertson
Thu, 2 February 2023

Shell has recorded its highest ever profits

OIL giant Shell has said that profits skyrocketed to £68.1 billion in 2022 due to soaring oil prices.

It represented the company’s highest profit in its 115-year history and surpassed the expectations of industry experts.

It comes amid continued questions over the scale of windfall taxes on energy producers, which have benefited from higher prices.

The SNP have said that the Tories must scrap their “outrageous” plan to raise the energy bill price cap in April.

The party’s energy spokesperson Alan Brown said: “People will feel sick that, instead of helping ordinary families, the Tories are allowing big energy companies to make record profits and are forcing taxpayers to subsidise shareholders.

“The Chancellor should follow the lead of other countries by taxing share buy backs, and expanding the windfall tax, to fund support for households.

“Scotland is an energy-rich country. With the full powers of independence we can escape Westminster control, deliver energy security and bring household bills down permanently.”

The London-listed oil major told investors that adjusted earnings leapt 53% against the previous year, after energy prices soared higher following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Including taxes, adjusted earnings more than doubled to £32.2bn.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Greens have said the “sickening” profits show the urgent need to shift to renewables.

The party’s environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell said that Shell had been “enriched” at the “cost of our planet”.

He continued: “There can be no justification for a system that allows this kind of profiteering, especially when so many are suffering. It is a sign of how broken things are and why they need to change.

“It underlines exactly why we need to break the link between fossil fuel prices and bills, and support the many households and families who have been plunged into fuel poverty over the last 12 months.

“With the climate emergency worsening, we don’t have time to waste. Our world is on fire. A windfall tax full of loopholes is not enough. We need action from every government and a generation-defining interest in renewables.”

The figures come after Wael Sawan took over as chief executive at the start of the year.

He said: “We believe that Shell is well positioned to be the trusted partner through the energy transition.

“As we continue to put our powering progress strategy into action, we build on our core strengths, further simplify the organisation and focus on performance.

“We intend to remain disciplined while delivering compelling shareholder returns, as demonstrated by the 15% dividend increase and the four-billion-dollar buyback programme announced today.”

How much UK tax does Shell pay after reporting record profits?


Oil giant’s bumper year revives calls for tougher windfall levy on energy companies

Joe Sommerlad


Shell announces record annual profits of £32.2bn

Multinational energy giant Shell has reported a 53 per cent increase in profits to £68.1bn for 2022 – the highest in its 115-year history.

The annual profit announcement, which comes off the back of rocketing oil prices being driven by Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, surpasses the company’s previous record set in 2008.

The company reports that its earnings adjusted for taxes also doubled to £32bn, reviving calls for Rishi Sunak’s government to further expand its windfall tax on energy profits.


During his time as chancellor in May 2022, Mr Sunak introduced a temporary 25 per cent Energy Profits Levy to tax excess profits on top of the 40 per cent tax the oil and gas giants were already paying (30 per cent corporation tax and a 10 per cent supplementary rate).

While the move took their total tax commitment to 65 per cent and was estimated to be worth an additional £5bn a year to the national balance sheet, much of it was offset through a tax release scheme for companies investing in extraction projects in the North Sea. That allowed them to reduce their tax liability by factoring in losses or spending on necessities such as decommissioning old platforms.

Without such allowances, Labour argued in October, that £8bn could have been raised from companies such as Shell and BP to support the public, which has faced soaring domestic energy bills this winter and inflation at a 40-year high.

Shell profits soar 53% to new record high amid growing calls for windfall tax

Greenpeace target Shell HQ in London with mock price board after profit announcement

Record profits for Shell – now what about the windfall tax?

Liz Truss, during her brief reign as prime minister, resisted amending the levy in favour of her swiftly discredited “growth, growth, growth” initiative, arguing that higher taxes could deter major companies from investing in Britain.

But once Jeremy Hunt succeeded Kwasi Kwarteng in No 11 and she had been deposed, the new chancellor announced that the levy would rise from 25 per cent to 35 per cent during his grim Autumn Statement in November, saying he expected to raise an extra £14bn a year by doing so.

Last month, Shell said that, in light of that decision, it would be paying tax in the UK for the first time since 2017, having previously offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits in line with the government’s allowances.


Its results announced on Thursday revealed that it had paid £1.5bn in windfall tax charges to the UK and EU in 2022 and, according to the BBC, the company expects to pay “hundreds of millions” more in 2023.

Globally, in 2021 (the last complete year for which records are available), Shell said it paid £47.6bn in tax to world governments and a further £10.4bn in other payments.

The company’s rival BP has said it expects to pay £649.5m in UK windfall tax for 2022.

Energy prices had already begun to climb following a spike in demand inspired by the end of Covid-19 lockdowns early last year but began to rise really sharply in March after Vladimir Putin launched the war in Ukraine.

Western nations opposed to the war moved quickly to sever commercial ties with Moscow and imposed tough sanctions as punishment for Russia’s aggressions.

But doing so meant shunning one of the world’s biggest energy producers and exporters, placing a squeeze on alternative sources of oil and gas from elsewhere as prices surged and hardship followed at home, underlining the folly of relying too heavily on the goodwill of foreign powers to meet domestic energy needs.

Brent crude oil reached almost £104 a barrel in the wake of the invasion but has since dropped back down to about £67.

Gas prices also spiked but have likewise since come down.

Responding to Shell’s announcement on Thursday, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and climate change campaigners all renewed their calls for the government to do more.

Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband said: “As the British people face an energy price hike of 40 per cent in April, the government is letting the fossil fuel companies making bumper profits off the hook with their refusal to implement a proper windfall tax.

“Labour would stop the energy price cap going up in April because it is only right that the companies making unexpected windfall profits from the proceeds of war pay their fair share.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey agreed, saying: “No company should be making these kind of outrageous profits out of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“Rishi Sunak was warned as chancellor and now as prime minister that we need a proper windfall tax on companies like Shell.

“They must tax the oil and gas companies properly and at the very least ensure that energy bills don’t rise yet again in April.”

Greenpeace spokesperson Elena Polisano meanwhile accused Shell of “profiteering from climate destruction” as her organisation trolled the company by erecting a spoof price display outside of its London headquarters.

“While Shell counts their record-breaking billions, people across the globe count the damage from the record-breaking drought,” she said.

For his part, Shell’s new chief executive Wael Sawan said the company’s results “demonstrate the strength of Shell’s differentiated portfolio, as well as our capacity to deliver vital energy to our customers in a volatile world”.

“We believe that Shell is well positioned to be the trusted partner through the energy transition,” he added.

“We intend to remain disciplined while delivering compelling shareholder returns.”

Nearly 14,000 Nigerians take Shell to court over devastating impact of pollution

Sandra Laville
Wed, 1 February 2023 



Nearly 14,000 people from two Nigerian communities are seeking justice in the high court in London against the fossil fuel giant Shell, claiming it is responsible for devastating pollution of their water sources and destruction of their way of life.

The individuals from the Niger delta area of Ogale, a farming community, lodged their claims last week, joining more than 2,000 people from the Bille area, a largely fishing community. In total 13,652 claims from individuals, and from churches and schools, are asking the oil giant to clean up the pollution which they say has devastated their communities. They are also asking for compensation for the resulting loss of their livelihoods. Their ability to farm and fish has been destroyed by the continuing oil spills from Shell operations, they claim.

Shell, which declared profits of more than $30bn for the first three quarters of 2022, argues that the communities have no legal standing to force it to clean up. Shell argues also that the individuals are barred from seeking compensation for spills which happened five years before they lodged their claims. The company says it bears no responsibility for the clandestine siphoning off of oil from its pipelines by organised gangs, which it says causes many of the spills.

The case against Shell is taking place as the oil major prepares to leave the Niger delta after more than 80 years of operations which have reaped substantial profits.

Daniel Leader, a partner at Leigh Day, who is representing the claimants, said: “This case raises important questions about the responsibilities of oil and gas companies. It appears that Shell is seeking to leave the Niger delta free of any legal obligation to address the environmental devastation caused by oil spills from its infrastructure over many decades.

“At a time when the world is focused on “the just transition”, this raises profound questions about the responsibility of fossil fuel companies for legacy and ongoing environmental pollution.”

Lawyers argue that the scale of oil spills in the delta masks a human tragedy on an extraordinary scale, with the pollution ingested by local people causing serious health impacts and affecting mortality rates.

A report by the University of St Gallen in Switzerland found that infants in the Niger delta were twice as likely to die in their first month of life if their mothers lived near an oil spill – a study which suggested there were 11,000 premature deaths a year in the Niger delta.

Shell has argued for five years that it is not liable for the actions of its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and the claims from the people of Ogale and Bille could not be heard in a London courtroom. But the supreme court ruled last year “there is a good arguable case” that Nigerian communities could bring their claims to the high court.

Shell continues to argue in its defence that it is not liable as the parent company.

As well as the thousands of individual claims against Shell, lawyers are also seeking compensation for alleged damage to communally owned property, to benefit everyone living in the midst of chronic pollution in the 40,000-strong rural community of Ogale, and in Bille, a 13,000-strong fishing community living on a group of islands in the mangrove forest region of the eastern Niger delta.

The stream which is the main source of water in Ogale for farming, drinking, and fishing has been severely polluted by oil contamination, the claims state. The pollution has killed fish, contaminated the drinking water and ruined the farmland. Most of the water coming from the borehole taps or wells in Ogale has a strong stench of oil, and is visibly brown, or covered in a sheen of oil, the claims state.

In Bille, oil spills from Shell’s apparatus have caused massive contamination of the rivers around the community, the claims say. Many people live close to the water and smell the oil in their homes. When the tide rises oily water comes right up to their houses, causing damage to their properties and possessions. The oil spills have damaged vast areas of mangrove forest and killed most of the fish and shellfish in the rivers, leaving Bille’s fishing population without a source of food or income.

The claims lodged in the high court state that Shell plc and/or its subsidiary SPDC were aware of systemic oil spills from their pipelines taking place over many years but failed to take adequate steps to prevent them or to clean them up.

Shell has been active in Nigeria for 86 years, and its Nigerian operations continue to account for a significant portion of the company’s overall profits. In a report in 2011 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) revealed the devastating impact of the oil industry in Ogoniland, and set out urgent recommendations for “the largest terrestrial cleanup operation in history”. It put the cost of an initial cleanup over five years at $1bn – around 3% of Shell’s 2022 profits.

But a report last year by a number of NGOs, said the people of Ogoniland were still waiting for a thorough cleanup of the oil spills.

A Shell spokesperson said: “We strongly believe in the merits of our case. The overwhelming majority of spills related to the Bille and Ogale claims were caused by illegal third-party interference, including pipeline sabotage, illegal bunkering and other forms of oil theft. Illegal refining of stolen crude oil also happens on a large scale in these areas and is a major source of oil pollution.”

Shell told the Guardian that it had done cleanup work and remediation of affected areas, and was working with the relevant Nigerian authorities to prevent sabotage, crude oil theft, and illegal refining which were, it said, the main source of pollution. It argued that litigation would do little to help address this issue.

UK
Something ‘rotten’ in policing, warns bishop following scandals

Nick Lester, Chief Lords Reporter
Wed, 1 February 2023 

Something is “rotten” in policing that needs to be urgently tackled, a senior church leader has said, after a string of scandals rocked the service.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev Dr David Walker, argued the spate of shocking revelations involving rogue officers was about “more than a series of bad apples”.

His stark warning in Parliament following the unmasking of serial rapist David Carrick.

The Metropolitan Police officer, who served in the force for more than 20 years, was officially sacked last month after he was revealed as one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders.

Dr David Walker, the Bishop of Manchester, said there was ‘something rotten in the culture and structures in policing that comprehensively and immediately needs to be addressed’ 

(Martin Rickett/PA)

In response to his case, the Home Office ordered a major review of the police disciplinary process, to make sure officers who “are not fit to serve the public” and “fall short of the high standards expected of them” can be sacked.

Vetting procedures are also to be strengthened and all officers checked against national police databases.

Carrick had faced complaints about his behaviour before he joined the force in 2001, then again as a probationer in 2002 and numerous times throughout his policing career until 2021.

He was suspended from duty in October 2021 when he was arrested for rape, and his pay was finally stopped in December 2022 when he admitted the majority of the criminal charges he faced.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has already warned two or three of his officers are expected to appear in court each week to face criminal charges as efforts to root out corruption within the ranks continue.

The Home Office has ordered a major review of the police disciplinary process to make sure officers who ‘are not fit to serve the public’ can be sacked (Joe Giddens/PA)

Speaking at Westminster, the bishop said: “This is more than a series of bad apples. I am sure that there is something rotten in the culture and structures in policing that comprehensively and immediately needs to be addressed.”

Responding, Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom said the issue would form a “critical part” of a current independent inquiry, led by Dame Elish Angiolini.

He said: “The inquiry will consider whether vetting and recruitment processes do enough to identify those in policing who are not fit to serve.

“It will investigate the extent to which misogynistic and predatory behaviour exists in police culture and look at whether current measures do enough to keep women safe, particularly in public spaces.”

Independent crossbencher Lord Morse, who spent a decade as head of the National Audit Office, also believed there was “a significant cultural dimension”.

The bishop’s stark warning came after the unmasking of serial rapist David Carrick – who served in the Met Police for more than 20 years (Andrew Matthews/PA)

He said: “Understandably, as a body, the police have a deeply defensive and internally focused culture.

“Simply picking malefactors out of that body will not solve the fact that there is a deep-rooted cultural issue.

“In my view, deep-rooted cultural change is needed to change the culture of the police force so that it is not as defensively minded as it appears to be at the moment.”

Lord Sharpe said: “I have already expressed that the Angiolini inquiry will look into all aspects of that culture.

“This is also a useful time to remind all of us that the vast majority of serving policemen do an exceptional job and deserve our thanks and praise.”

Gillian Anderson asks women to send her their sexual fantasies

Telegraph reporters
Wed, 1 February 2023 

Gillian Anderson in Sex Education - Sex Education

Sex Education actress Gillian Anderson has asked women to send her their stories about sexual fantasies for a book she is curating.

The actress, 54, who plays a sex therapist called Jean Milburn in the hit Netflix series, will publish a selection of these testimonies anonymously, sent to her and addressed "Dear Gillian".

They will appear in a book based on female liberation author Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies, which the actress read to prepare for her role in Sex Education.

The 1973 book was published during the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and became a cult hit.

With her Sex Education on-screen son Asa Butterfield - Sam Taylor/Netflix

Anderson said: "As women, we know that sex is about more than just sex but so many of us don't talk about it. Our deepest, most intimate fears and fantasies remain locked away inside of us, until someone comes along with the key.

"Here is the key. I want to hear from you. This will be an anonymous, revelatory book compiling your letters to me to explore how women think about sex.

"Because when we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fairness and egalitarianism, love and hate, pleasure and pain."

Sex Education, which has run for three series, follows the son of Anderson's character - socially awkward high school student Otis as he navigates sex and relationships with his friends.

Anderson said she is looking for "fantasies, frustrations, explorations, the forbidden, childhood, sounds, fetishes, guilt, insatiability", and her invitation is open to both women and people who identify as women.

Stories sent to Anderson at deargillian.com before midnight on February 28 could be included in the book, provisionally titled Dear Gillian, which will be released by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Lula candidate wins Brazil Senate chief post


Wed, 1 February 2023 


A lawmaker backed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was reelected the leader of Brazil's Senate Wednesday, fending off a challenge from a rival supported by far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

In a win for veteran leftist Lula, Rodrigo Pacheco held onto his post as president of the upper house of Congress, defeating Rogerio Marinho of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party (PL) by a vote of 49 to 32.

Pacheco is from the centrist Social Democratic Party (PSD), which also managed to displace the PL as the largest party in the incoming Senate thanks to a whirlwind of last-minute deal-making.

He promised the "due independence" of the Senate from the executive branch.

But the Congress elected in the October polls that brought Lula to office is still largely dominated by conservatives, with the PL the largest party in the lower house.

That threatens to make life difficult for Lula, the 77-year-old former metalworker turned three-time president who narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in an October 30 runoff.

Members of the 513-seat Chamber of Deputies and 81-seat Senate were sworn in Wednesday in a tightly guarded ceremony, less than a month after rioters invaded Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, claiming Lula's win was fraudulent.

The lower house leadership vote was won by a record 464 ballots by incumbent speaker Arthur Lira, a key figure in a loose coalition of parties dubbed the "Centrao" that is known for its knack for securing government pork and prized posts.

"It is time to douse the flames in Brazil, relax relations and the powers of the Republic must set an example," Lira said after his victory.

Lula congratulated both men on Twitter, and wished them "good management."

Lira's post is a powerful one in Brazil. The speaker of the lower house is second in the line of presidential succession, after the vice president, and has the power to decide whether to allow impeachment proceedings to move forward.

Formerly a Bolsonaro ally, Lira made an overture to Lula immediately after the new president narrowly won the runoff election, saying it was time to "build bridges."

He recently said their relationship was "calm and friendly."

Lula, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, has meanwhile made it clear he understands the political reality he faces.

"We're not in charge in Congress, we depend on Congress," he told his ministers at his first cabinet meeting last month.

In comments seen as an olive branch to conservative lawmakers, he vowed there would be no "forbidden issues" or "ideological vetoes."

rsr-mls/jhb/jh/md

Water firms to lose public funds unless they pledge to stop UK sewage spills

Helena Horton Environment reporter
Wed, 1 February 2023 

Photograph: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock

Taxpayer money may no longer be invested in water companies that fail to produce adequate plans to stop sewage discharges, after the government accepted a Liberal Democrat amendment.

The change to the UK infrastructure bank bill means that once it becomes law, tax receipts will only be able to fund water companies if they produce a costed and timed plan for ending sewage spills into waterways.

The new post-Brexit UK Infrastructure Bank is a state-owned development bank designed to help the UK government reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Originally, it could have given cheap finance to any water companies that wanted to make improvements to infrastructure. It will have £12bn of startup capital, comprising £5bn of equity from the Treasury and £7bn of debt. It will also be able to provide up to a further £10bn of guarantees.

Richard Foord, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, tabled the bill and said the government had previously written a “blank cheque” of taxpayer money to water firms to invest in their infrastructure.

The Lib Dem MP said: “This is a victory for millions of people across the country who have voiced their outrage at water companies being allowed to get away with polluting rivers and coastlines.

“My amendment ensures water companies won’t receive a blank cheque with taxpayers’ money whilst they pollute our rivers and damage local wildlife.

“It would have been scandalous for taxpayers’ money to be thrown at firms who pay their execs multimillion pound bonuses, all whilst destroying our environment.”

Earlier on Wednesday, environment secretary Thérèse Coffey hit out at the Lib Dems for their claim that the Conservatives’ new sewage bill effectively legalised waste dumping.

She said: “This is not the first time that Liberal Democrats have put stuff out and it has been a complete load of the proverbial.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been approached for comment.

Microplastics from food packets and paint discovered in human veins


Lucy Skoulding and Katie Dickinson
Wed, 1 February 2023 

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Microplastics used in food packaging and paint have been discovered in human veins.

A new study suggests microplastics can pass through blood vessels to vascular tissue - but scientists have said it is not yet clear what the implications are for human health.

Human saphenous vein tissue taken from patients undergoing heart bypass surgery in a small pilot study was analysed by a team from the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School along with researchers from the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

They found 15 microplastic particles per gram of vein tissue and five different polymer types in the tissue.

The most prominent included alkyd resin – found in synthetic paint, varnishes and enamels; polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) – an adhesive found in food packaging and nylon; and EVOH and EVA – used in flexible packaging materials.

Professor Jeanette Rotchell, an environmental toxicologist at the University of Hull, said: “We were surprised to find them. We already know microplastics are in blood, from a study by Dutch colleagues last year.

“But it was not clear whether they could cross blood vessels into vascular tissue and this work would suggest they can do just that.

“Whilst we don’t yet know the implications of this on human health, what we can say is that from studies using cells grown in dishes, they cause inflammation and stress responses.”

The study, published in the journal Plos One, showed the levels of microplastics observed were similar to, or higher than, those reported for colon and lung tissues.

Saphenous veins are blood vessels in the legs which help send blood from the legs and feet back up to the heart.

The veins consist of three layers of tissue and are widely used in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures.

Around 40-50% of CABG procedures ultimately fail after 10 years due to a variety of factors, which are not always clear.

Until now, no studies have examined whether microplastics can infiltrate or cross any biological barrier, including blood vessels, or examined any potential link between environmental microplastic exposure and CABG outcomes.

Professor Rotchell said: “The characterisation of types and levels of microplastics can now inform experiments to determine vascular health impacts, including any potential link between environmental microplastic exposure and CABG outcomes.”

Professor Mahmoud Loubani, a co-author and Honorary Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, said: “Failure of saphenous vein grafts has been a long-standing issue following coronary artery bypass surgery. It is an effective treatment but the longevity is limited by deterioration in the patency of the veins.

“The presence of these microplastics in the veins may well play a role in damaging the inside of the vein leading to it becoming blocked with the passage of time. We do need to identify if there is any correlation and figure out ways of maybe removing the microplastics.”

Seychelles is becoming overwhelmed by marine plastic – we now know where it comes from


Noam Vogt-Vincent, DPhil Candidate in Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

 April Burt, Research Associate, University of Oxford

THE CONVERSATION
Tue, 31 January 2023 

A green turtle on Aldabra entangled in abandoned fishing gear. 

Rich Baxter, CC BY-NC-ND

More than 1,000km southwest of Mahé, the main inhabited island in Seychelles, lies a ring of coral islands called the Aldabra Atoll. The islands are a Unesco world heritage site and support a huge diversity of marine species including manta rays and tiger sharks. The atoll is also a breeding site for endangered green turtles.

Aldabra has long been protected from threats to its biodiversity by its remoteness. But now plastic debris is strewn across Aldabra’s coastlines, threatening nearby marine ecosystems. Research finds the likelihood of coral disease increases from 4% to 89% when coral are in contact with plastic.

The Seychelles Islands Foundation, who are responsible for managing Aldabra, conducted a plastic clean-up operation in partnership with Oxford University in 2019. Roughly 25 tonnes of plastic waste were removed from the islands.

A new study that we co-authored modelled the flow of plastic debris in the Indian Ocean between 1993 and 2019 and traced it to its source. We found that none of the plastic that washes up on Aldabra comes from the islands themselves.

The Aldabra Atoll, part of the Seychelles’ Outer Islands. Seychelles Islands Foundation, 

CC BY-NC-ND

Simulating plastic flow

Using data on plastic waste generation and fishing activity, we generated hundreds of billions of virtual plastic particles entering the Indian ocean. We then simulated their movement based on ocean currents, waves and winds.

Bottle caps and other low-buoyancy items sink fast and plastic loses buoyancy as it fragments or becomes covered in waterborne organisms. Items that remain buoyant for longer are transported further distances. To reach Aldabra from the eastern Indian Ocean, our model estimates that debris must be floating for at least six months.

We determined the likelihood that this debris would wash up on the coast by analysing the rate at which scientific “drifters” (instruments that record ocean currents) and GPS-tracked floating fishing devices become “beached”. Free-floating instruments such as these behave well as proxies for floating plastic. These observations indicate that around 3% of the debris that is within 10km of a coast beaches each day.

Island under siege

Our model predicts that Indonesia is responsible for most of the plastic debris, including as flip-flops and plastic packaging, that beaches across Seychelles. Various other countries including India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are also major sources.

A figure showing the sources of marine debris across the Indian Ocean.

But Seychelles is also contaminated with plastic waste from other places.

Almost half of the plastic bottles found on Aldabra during the initial clean-up had been manufactured in China. But ocean currents do not flow directly between China and the western Indian Ocean. It is thus unlikely that a large number of bottles could float from China to Seychelles.

But Seychelles is close to a major shipping lane that connects southeast Asia to the Atlantic. If bottles were discarded from ships crossing the Indian Ocean then they would likely beach across Seychelles.

Research that we conducted in 2020 estimated that the fishing industry was responsible for 83% of the plastic waste on Aldabra. Most of the fishing gear abandoned by “purse seine” fisheries (a method of fishing that employs large nets to catch tuna) likely relates to regional fishing activity around Seychelles. But abandoned gear from longline fisheries may have drifted in from as far afield as western Australia.

Perhaps most importantly, our modelling also suggests that the rates at which plastic debris will beach in the Indian Ocean will follow strong seasonal cycles.

Winds tend to have a southerly (northward) component during the Indian Ocean’s summer monsoon season. But major debris sources such as Indonesia and India share similar, or more northerly, latitudes with Seychelles. During this period, debris from these sources tends to miss Seychelles and is transported further north.

By contrast, the winds reverse during the winter monsoons and transport debris directly towards Seychelles. We expect plastic debris accumulation to peak in Seychelles shortly after the winter monsoons (February to April). In the southernmost islands, almost all of the debris that beaches will do so at this point.

Schematic of ocean currents in the Indian Ocean. 

Vogt-Vincent et al. (2023), CC BY-NC-ND

Planning effective mitigation

Seychelles is not responsible for generating this waste but face mounting environmental and economic costs. For example, 500 tonnes of litter remained following the initial clean-up of Aldabra’s coasts, which may cost up to US$5 million (£4 million) to remove.

The United Nations last year agreed to establish a global plastic treaty that will tackle plastic pollution at its roots. But negotiations only began recently and it may be a long time before the treaty has any meaningful impact.

A team from the Seychelles Islands Foundation removing litter from the coastline of Aldabra. Seychelles islands Foundation, CC BY-NC-ND

Until then our modelling may help to establish other strategies to reduce the accumulation of plastic debris in Seychelles.

We identified fishing gear and shipping as being responsible for the majority of plastic pollution on Seychelles. Better enforcement of existing laws such as the 1983 ban on the disposal of plastic into the sea under the Marpol Convention should reduce the amount of plastic entering the Indian Ocean.

Predicting the peak of plastic accumulation in Seychelles will also maximise the effectiveness of beach clean-ups. Removing litter shortly after its arrival will minimise the time debris spends being broken down into unmanageable fragments.

Remote Indian Ocean islands are increasingly affected by plastic waste generated overseas. But by modelling the flow of plastic debris, we now have the chance to develop more effective strategies to reduce plastic accumulation and strengthen demands for stronger commitments under the global plastic treaty.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Noam Vogt-Vincent receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

April Burt works with Seychelles Islands Foundation, who manage Aldabra Atoll