High Street Brands linked to Tar Sands Climate Catastrophe – Ethical Consumer launches boycott campaign

Leading UK brands, including Superdrug, Nouvelle recycled toilet paper and 3 mobile are owned by companies profiting from the environmentally devastating exploitation of the Canadian tar sands for oil. HSBC, RBS and Barclays are also all playing a significant role in financing tar sands mining.

Ethical Consumer is calling for a boycott brands of companies who are profiting from the climate change timebomb of the tar sands exploitation.

Tar sands exploitation produces carbon emissions between 2.5 to 8 times higher than conventional oil extraction. That’s before even considering emissions from the end user. Oil derived from the tar sands threatens to unleash far more CO2 into the atmosphere than the planet can possibly cope with. If all of the permits for extraction granted by the Canadian Government are fulfilled, there would be a hike in CO2 from this alone that would be enough to push the world passed the 2 degrees C threshold that scientists warn is likely to precipitate catastrophic climate change. In addition, production involves massive use of water resources and the deforestation and ecological destruction of the pristine forest and wetland environment of Alberta. It’s not just nature that’s suffering. Indigenous communities who live and fish downstream from the tar sands are raising concerns around the possible health risks posed by toxicity levels in local water and fish.

Top ten brands named and shamed:

1. Superdrug (Hutchison Whampoa)
2. Nouvelle paper products (Koch Industries Inc)
3. 3’ mobile phone network (Hutchison Whampoa)
4. Barclays
5. HSBC
6. Royal Bank of Scotland
7. Caterpillar
8. Hitachi
9. Liebherr Fridges
10. Lycra (Koch Industries Inc)