Amnesty get slick with fundraising call to take on Shell

A number of oil-related stories popped up today in the media.

Firstly there’s a new Greenpeace report out that warns that British motorists are unwitting users of diesel and petrol derived from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, which the Guardian covers well today.

Apparently the methods used to get the oil out of the ground are particularly damaging to the environment.

Meanwhile, BP is busy trying to stop the oil leak that looks to devastate the southern coast of the United States. Their latest efforts of trying to place a huge funnel over the top of the leak seem to have been undone by tiny ice crystals which are making it too buoyant as the BBC covers today.

And for us here at Amnesty, there’s the issue of Shell.

This morning we are doing something a little bit different.  For the first time we’ve launched a fundraising campaign to pay for an ad.

The key as in most things is the timing. Next Tuesday the oil giant Shell will be holding their AGM.

Those of you familiar with these pages will know that we’ve been targeting Shell for sometime because of their appalling record in the Niger Delta, you can read past blogs on it here and here.

Because of their activity, hundreds of thousands of people in the Niger Delta are left to drink polluted water, eat contaminated fish, farm on spoiled land and breath in air that stinks of oil and gas. We want to expose the culprits and get them to come clean and accept responsibility. Full details of our concerns can be found here.

Among the people we want to reach with this message are Shell’s shareholders and that means putting ads in the places where they might see them.

You can find out more by logging onto our website here and on our social media pages. The Guardian trailed the story this morning in its media section.

For a donation of just £10 you’ll get a one centimetre sqaure section in a national newspaper.

To make a really big impact, we need to raise at least £20,000 in the next few days – so the more you can give the better.

Donate £30 or more and we’ll put your name on the advert (although you can opt out of that if you prefer).