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Fighting Big Oil and Gas in Northern Germany

by Andy Gheorghiu and Frida Kieninger

Photo by: Christian Eckhardt
Natural gas plant near Großenkneten
Photo by: Christian Eckhardt

On 2 December, a number of German citizens’ initiatives[1] met with Food & Water Europe in Hamburg to discuss oil and gas exploration in the country and strategies for the coming year.

The main points discussed were planned exploration in a water protection area in Verden, Lower Saxony, an international project by Hansa Hydrocarbons to drill for gas in the North Sea (nearby the Wadden Sea), and the construction of a terminal to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Brunsbüttel port.

New drilling in a water protection area?

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Global Frackdown 2017: Letters from Mexico

Anti-fracking event VeracruzMexico has been identified as having significant shale oil and gas potential and the Mexican government appears keen to develop its shale resources.

Meanwhile, more and more Mexicans are becoming aware of the dangers of fracking and are mobilizing to oppose plans to sell off clean air and water as well as healthy communities to the incessant greed for profit of big oil and gas companies.

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Up to the Last Drop: The Secret Water War in Europe

By David Sánchez

Water is a human right and a common good. But it is also one of the main focuses of transnational corporations that want to profit from this scarce resource. The struggle to defend public water is now exposed in the new documentary Up to the Last Drop: The Secret Water War in Europe.

For decades, corporations have pushed for the privatization of public services – including water. In Europe, several attempts supported by the European Commission have been launched since the neoliberal wave of the 90s. Still, today some of the countries affected by the austerity crisis – Ireland, Greece, Portugal – are resisting water privatization imposed by the Troika. Water has been on the negotiation table of the new wave of free trade agreements like TTIP and TISA, and is included in CETA, which contains several provisions that put public water management and water resources under international trade and investment mechanisms.

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Ireland’s Clean Energy Revolution Won’t Be Helped by LNG Imports

By Andy Gheorghiu

PHOTO CC-BY-SA © PLINE / COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG

Ireland has been through quite some rough economic times in the aftermath of the financial crunch. But the Irish are natural born fighters and will never easily give in. They also have deep and strong bond to the lands and the waters that host and feed them.

No wonder that – despite the economic struggles they were facing and oil and gas industry promises of jobs and prosperity – the Irish didn’t buy in, but rather fought back.

Instead of believing the shale hype, Ireland opted for the only true path that is able to combine environmental protection, climate action and a boost for the econonmy: in the Summer of 2017, the Green Island banned fracking.

Previously, in January 2017, the Irish Dàil had voted in favour of divesting coal, oil and gas holdings from the €8 billion Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.

But now, at the most decisive moment for Ireland’s transition into a post-fossil fuel future, an absurd debate about the realisation of two unneeded LNG import terminals at Shannon & Cork returns.

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Globalfrackdown 2017 (And Beyond)

By Andy Gheorghiu

Since 2012, the Global Frackdown – an international day of action initiated by Food & Water Watch to ban fracking – has helped connect activists across the globe and demonstrated the growing power of the movement to stop fracking, gas infrastructure, sand mining and other related extraction methods. This movement is fueled by increasing scientific evidence of the impact of fracking on water, air, health, seismic stability, communities, and the climate on which we all depend.


This year groups from around the globe – moved by our joint spirit of “Not here or anywhere!” – rallied again in solidarity for a Global Frackdown.

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2nd Gas Conference – Global gas lock-in: Linking North-South Resistance

What happens if a bunch of activists working to halt gas infrastructure and raise awareness about the issues around gas meet in Brussels? A global network of “gastivists” is launched.

The first edition of the Brussels Gas Conference, co-organized by Food & Water Europe, was in September 2016. This year, we decided to repeat the successful conference at the end of September, this time focusing more on global supply chains of fossil gas.

Fighting the notion of gas as a bridge fuel – and fighting impacts of gas extractions

While most of the discussions around gas in Brussels concern its climate impact and security of supply as well as energy prices, the reality for people affected by gas extraction and gas infrastructure projects often looks different. In this year’s conference, representatives from EU-based organizations touched base with activists on the ground within and outside of Europe, broadening the joint narrative around gas. The Global North’s approach is to focus on the gas lobby‘s push to sell gas as green, clean and a necessary bridge-fuel supporting unreliable renewables – backed by hordes of lobbyists and huge payments for lobby material. On the other hand, participants from the Global South in particular made clear that in extracting countries, land grabbing, loss of livelihood, increase of socio-economic inequality, corruption and human rights abuse are the issues they highlight when talking about fossil gas.

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