Source: Greenpeace New Zealand
One of my favourite things about summer is all the outdoor music festivals. So it really grinds my gears when big polluters go and spoil it all by plastering their logos all over these events.
Austrian oil company OMV has a massive drill rig in New Zealand right now, exploring for climate-wrecking fossil fuels in sensitive marine habitats. But they don’t want you to know that.
What they do want you to know is that they’re sponsoring the WOMAD music festival, which takes place in New Plymouth from 13-15 March.
As the world watches the climate crisis intensify with more devastating fires, floods and droughts, it’s staggering to watch OMV continue to search for more fossil fuels to burn. Climate change cannot be covered up by sponsoring family-friendly music festivals.
That’s why we’ve penned a letter to the organisers at WOMAD calling on them to drop oil and gas sponsorship from future festivals, and we’d love you to sign on.
As an international festival that celebrates diversity, and brings artists together from all over the world, WOMAD is in a unique position to use its platform to take a stand and protect the values it promotes.
More extreme and more frequent weather events – like the deadly bushfires in Australia and the droughts in Northland – are being driven by the fossil fuel corporations exploiting our planet for more fuel to burn.
Just 100 companies are responsible for more than 70% of the world’s carbon emissions. OMV is one of those companies.
Help us tell WOMAD to drop oil industry sponsors like OMV from the bill.
Climate change is an injustice that disproportionately affects our neighbours in the Pacific, developing nations, indigenous people, people of colour, women, people with disabilities, and poorer people. These are the people who are also the least responsible for causing it.
If WOMAD ended fossil fuel sponsorship of future festivals, it could have a big impact. History has shown that when people, businesses, and brands publicly distance themselves from those who are causing harm, they can spark action in many others.
For the love of art, music, and everything we hold dear, let’s tell WOMAD that the time has come to take a stand.
