Extinction Rebellion is targetting the Olympics before they’ve even begun

Extinction Rebellion activists visited the National Cycling Centre in Manchester on Tuesday 16 July to call on gold medalist and active travel guru Chris Boardman to help them convince British Cycling to drop its sponsor Shell ahead of the Olympics in Paris.

Extinction Rebellion: love the Olympics, hate Shell

The protest took place as Boardman, who was British Cycling’s policy advisor for over a decade, set off on an eight-day bike ride from Manchester to Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Boardman aims to travel across England highlighting the work of inspirational organisations who are working hard to become environmentally sustainable.

Protesters held signs and placards while calling on Boardman to join them in publicly denouncing Shell’s sponsorship of British Cycling. The sign carried messages like ‘Shell Lie, Cyclists Die’ and ‘[Heart] Chris, Hate Shell’:

Protester Sahrah Wilding, a keen cyclist, says:

We’re big fans of Chris Boardman and we love that he’s cycling to the Paris Olympics to highlight the accelerating threat from the climate crisis. But it’s ironic that Chris is starting his journey at the headquarters of British Cycling, an organisation that is taking millions in dirty sponsorship money from climate-wrecking oil giant Shell.

Cycling is a brilliant mode of travel and one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Yet the main governing body for the sport is ruining its reputation by taking cash from climate criminals.

As one senior cycling official said, the sponsorship between British Cycling and Shell is like “shaking hands with the devil”.

Shell’s dirty money

The eight year sponsorship deal with Shell has caused huge controversy since it was announced in October 2022. Campaigners claim the oil and gas multinational is trying to ‘greenwash’ its image by investing in the sport, deflecting attention from its decision to revise its climate targets – particularly ahead of the Olympics.

Shell recently abandoned its 2035 emissions target and weakened its 2030 goal, putting the 1.5C climate target which the world committed to at the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement at risk. They also point out that Shell now spends more on advertising than it does renewable energy.

It’s not the first time Extinction Rebellion has called out Shell’s sponsorship of British Cycling.

In November protesters rallied outside British cycling’s AGM in Birmingham. Activists also arranged a meeting between themselves and British Cycling’s CEO Jon Dutton with leading UK climate scientist Professor Kevin Anderson in attendance.

Mike Bastow from Extinction Rebellion says:

It feels like British Cycling is closing ranks. No one wanted to discuss this issue with us today. I compare it to the doping scandal, where everyone knew what was happening but didn’t want to talk about it.

We’ve tried everything to get British Cycling to listen, even taking a leading climate scientist to meet the CEO and letting him hear from an expert how close the world is to catastrophic tipping points. But British Cycling is determined to ignore the science.

Pressure increases

The Olympics protest comes as fossil fuel sponsorship of museums and the arts is becoming increasingly fraught. On Monday the Science Museum cuts its ties to Norwegian oil giant Equinor after sustained public pressure. In June, Baillie Gifford cancelled all its sponsorship deals with literary festivals after protestors highlighted its links to Israel and fossil fuel companies.

Mike Bastow says:

As major institutions drop their dirty sponsors, it’s obvious that the public mood is changing. People don’t want museums or the arts tainted by fossil fuel cash and the same is true for sport. We’d love to see Chris Boardman join our call for Shell to get the hell out of British Cycling while he pedals from Manchester to Paris. C’mon Chris, tell Shell to get on their bike!

Featured image and additional images via Extinction Rebellion