Protesters from the anti-fracking group No Dash for Gas blocked access to the London headquarters of Bell Pottinger this morning and hung a banner from the building as part of a campaign against the firm and U.K. energy client Cuadrilla.
The group, which said its protesters super-glued themselves to the PR firm's glass door and used arm tubes to block access at around 8 a.m. Aug. 19, also played over a sound system a recording of what they said was a Bell Pottinger staffer admitting its PR offensive on fracking "sounds like utter f---ing b-llsh-t." A banner unfurled on the building read "Bell Pottinger Fracking Liars."
"This morning we’re stopping their staff reaching their desks in the hope that for one day at least Bell Pottinger won’t be able to mislead the British public about fracking," said protester Kerry Fenton. "In truth it's polluting, expensive and dangerous.”
Bell Pottinger acknowledged the protest but said its offices remained open and that police were dealing with the activists. The firm said the group was only playing part of the recording, which was originally released by Greenpeace in May.
Protesters also made their way to offices and a drilling site of Cuadrilla, which has begun exploratory drilling in West Sussex, U.K.
The actions came in the second day of a planned six-day campaign against fracking.
Last week, Bahraini activists threatened PR firms working on behalf of that country's regime, a group that has included Bell Pottinger, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Qorvis Communications, among others.
A U.K. environmental group targeted the headquarters of Edelman in 2009 with a "naked protest" over the firm's work for coal power company EON.
Edelman will develop and implement a communications strategy to promote the United Nations’
The climate events that we increasingly face are signals that the systems we rely on—transportation, energy, health, supply chains—are getting more vulnerable. Resilience begins with corporate responsibility. Communication bridges policy, purpose and public trust.
Join Krystal Noiseux, Associate Director of the MIT Climate Pathways Project at MIT Sloan School of Management, and Tony Cheevers of Researchscape International for a recorded O'Dwyers webinar covering how the MIT Climate Pathways project is using data in interactive simulations to advance the adoption of evidence-based climate policy through leaders in the public and private sector.
DGA Group has named climate advocate Karen Skelton as a senior advisor to help clients navigate the evolving energy transition landscape.
Brunswick Group has added climate and sustainability pro David Wei as a partner in its New York office, effective June 17.
