Around sixty Extinction Rebellion (ER) activists entered the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges (Loire-Atlantique) late Saturday morning for a little less than an hour, journalists from the AFP.
Disguised as clowns to denounce the “clowneries” of the oil giant, in checkered shirts, red wigs or caps and pointy hats, the activists entered the site at the end of the morning through a cut fence.
They left the scene and dispersed shortly after noon.
Punch action from @XR_Rouen on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of @TotalEnergies in front of the Gonfreville-l'Orcher site (76) pic.twitter.com/MKFcI2W0gU
— Lucie Amadieu (@AmadieuLucie) March 23, 2024
On a concrete tank about twenty meters high, the activists projected colorful paint and unfurled a large banner on which was written: “End your crimes and your clowning”.
“100 years that Total has knowingly polluted”
“Total has been knowingly polluting and putting us all in danger for 100 years.
We are here to make the climate emergency heard, on the site of a criminal enterprise,” Louise, 28, an Extinction Rebellion activist, told AFP.
Between the tanks, in the smell of gasoline, the activists danced while brandishing flags bearing the Extinction Rebellion logo.
Several TotalEnergies employees were on site at the end of the morning.
The police were also present.
An action by the same organization, with activists also disguised as clowns, took place at the TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville-l'Orcher (Seine-Maritime), according to the regional press.
Another action on the A7
Furthermore, on Saturday noon, five members of Extinction Rebellion attached a large banner to a bridge overlooking the A7, near the TotalEnergies refinery in Feyzin (Rhône), where one could read: “100 years that Total has us take for clowns.
The activists, dressed in white overalls, were wearing multi-colored curly wigs and their faces were made up like clowns, according to photos provided to AFP by the organizers.
An international organization, Extinction Rebellion campaigns in particular for "recognition of the seriousness and urgency of current ecological crises" as well as for "the immediate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to achieve carbon neutrality in 2025, thanks to reduction in consumption.