Issue and Opponent: Many oil and gas companies have viewed the Far North as the next frontier for fossil fuel exploration. The state-owned oil company, Gazprom, intended to become the first company to drill Arctic oil in the summer of 2012 at the Prirazlomnaya oil field.
Dilemma Action: On August 24th, six Greenpeace activists, including executive director Kumi Naidoo, departed on three inflatable boats and scaled the Prirazlomnaya oil platform. The activists occupied the oil platform for five days, and they faced several violent actions from Gazprom ordering the activists to leave. Water cannons were used to spray the activists with frigid water, and efforts were made to destroy Greenpeace boats. The goal of the action was to prevent offshore Arctic oil drilling at the Prirazlomnaya oil field to inhibit the escalation of climate change and the melting of Arctic sea ice. Though they had enough supplies to last several days, on the fifth day, their last boat was pulled vertically out of the water, and it spilled the crew into the frigid waters. Naidoo later stated, “Like Shell’s reckless plans to drill in Alaska, it’s not a question of if an oil spill will happen, but when.” Greenpeace stated that Gazprom had an inadequate plan for dealing with any potential oil spill in the fragile environment. By occupying the oil rig, the Greenpeace activists placed Gazprom into the dilemma of either negotiating with the activists, thus acknowledging the problem, or forcibly removing the activists, thus showing the world to what extent Gazprom was willing to go to drill at the Prirazlomnaya oil field.
Outcomes: The coverage of the activist’s occupation spread quickly through international news sources and social media. Greenpeace additionally initiated online letter-writing campaigns as well as petitions callings for the drilling to be put to a stop. It collected nearly 1.7 million signatures and the backing of several celebrities. Greenpeace later succeeded in preventing Gazprom from drilling at the field, but it remained unclear whether It would be able to prevent future drilling. Part of a Larger Campaign? Yes, Greenpeace is a campaign dedicated to climate action.