A number of climate activists protested the Nature Action Dialogue event hosted by the University of Cambridge earlier today (25/03). They accused the event, which was organised by the UN Environmental Programme, of “greenwashing” the reputations of some of the attendees, and Cambridge of facilitating these businesses.

Much of the event was held at Jesus College. On its website, it highlighted its aim to “explore solutions to address the triple planetary crisis and the biodiversity, water, climate and health nexus”.

The environmental group Organisation of Radical Cambridge Activists for Environmental Liberation (ORCA) gathered outside the Cambridge Union during the conference’s opening session. The chants and drums of the protesters were accompanied by a visual performance from the “oily slicks”. They attempted to show “the insidious impact of the oil industry on people and planet” by moving about silently while dressed in black, ORCA said.

Among the event attendees, ORCA highlighted oil company ENI and the Drax power station, Nestle, and HSBC as particularly harmful companies.

In 2024, it was revealed that the Drax biomass power station produced four times the CO2 emissions of the UK’s last coal power station. Emitting 11.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2023, the power station produced more than the sum of the next 4 highest polluting power plants in the UK, while accepting £539m in clean energy subsidies.

Drax argues that, because the biomass pellets it burns are made from trees, the emissions produced by burning them are largely offset by the carbon dioxide that the trees absorb during their lifetime.

Nestle is accused of using up water resources in places suffering from drought in order to make their bottled water. The activists also highlighted Nestle’s alleged past complicity in child labour and modern slavery. In 2021, the company was sued over these allegations, but the US Supreme Court dismissed the case. Nestle USA denied complicity in child labour.

HSBC invested $192 million in fossil fuels between 2016 and 2023, according to a report by Banking On Climate Chaos, published last year. The bank has said that it will “engage with our major oil and gas clients on their targets and transition plans, and [will] align our oil and gas financing portfolio to a 2030 net zero aligned financed emissions target.”

Aside from criticising the event’s attendees, ORCA also condemned the event for “proposing false solutions” to the climate crisis. They argue that measures such as carbon credit schemes harm and displace people in the Global South.

Later in the day, activists displayed a banner reading “Cambridge Sustains Green Colonialism” from the balcony of Jesus College’s West Court Building. They read out speeches to passers-by as other protesters disrupted the conference inside.

A spokesperson for ORCA said: “The Nature Action Dialogue claims to address the linked climate, biodiversity, water and health crises. So why are so many of the attendee’s corporations who cause active harm in all these areas?”

“From Drax and Nestle to HSBC and Aviva, many of the companies attending today are responsible for war, genocide and environmental devastation around the work. It’s time for an end to Cambridge’s greenwashing of violent corporations: watch this space…,” they continued.

Jesus College and the UN Environmental Programme were contacted for comment.

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