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Greenpeace protesters stormed kyoto petroleum exchange Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/02/16/ap1831099.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/02/16/ap1831099.html
Associated Press
Update 2: Protesters Storm Int'l Petroleum Exchange
02.16.2005, 10:34 AM
Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange on Wednesday in a bid to paralyze oil trading on the day the Kyoto Protocol on global warming came into force.
About 35 demonstrators entered the building in central London just before 2 p.m., when open outcry trading, which is done verbally in a trading pit, was to begin, Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart said. Armed with foghorns, attack alarms and whistles, the group was trying to make as much noise as possible to prevent trading, he said.
A trader who spoke on condition of anonymity said the activists ran around the floor, blowing whistles to disrupt trading on the exchange, which is the world's second-largest energy market. The trader said open outcry trading was stopped as a result of the protest, but that deals continued via the exchange's electronic trading system.
A spokesman for the IPE said: "We are dealing with the issue," but said no one was available for further comment.
London's Metropolitan police said they were called at 1:55 p.m. to reports of protesters gaining access to the IPE building. Police said some protesters had chained themselves together.
Outside, three climbers scaled the building, which is located near Tower Bridge, to hang a banner from the roof declaring "Climate change kills. Stop pushing oil." Several other protesters blocked the entrance to the building, sitting cross-legged holding signs while a police helicopter circled overhead.
The Kyoto global warming pact went into force Wednesday, imposing limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists blame for rising world temperatures, melting glaciers and rising oceans.
"We believe we are stopping trading in oil on the global market," Stewart said by telephone from outside the exchange. "The reason we did this is that the Kyoto accord, which comes into force today, has modest targets to cut greenhouse gases.
"We need huge cuts if we are going to divert dangerous climate change. So today we said that by stopping oil being traded, and we're asking the world to take a deep breath on this and consider where our oil addiction is taking us."
Another Greenpeace official, Stephen Tindale, said: "Kyoto is a first step, but governments need to agree to huge cuts in emissions, way beyond Kyoto targets. We are rapidly approaching a point of no return."
Tindale said British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders must use meetings this year by the Group of Eight industrialized nations "to move the world on to a different track." Britain has the presidency of the G-8 this year.
The International Petroleum Exchange dispensed with its morning open outcry trading session last year, replacing it with electronic trading in a move designed to boost efficiency. That angered some traders who fear they will be put out of business.
By midafternoon in Europe, light sweet crude for March delivery was up 38 cents at US$47.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Nymex, the world's biggest energy futures marketplace, announced plans Monday to open an exchange in London to rival the IPE. The new Nymex market will be committed to open outcry trading.
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