Do you see red at eco protests?
I wrote this article for publication in the Eastern Daily Press (the mainstream newspaper for the East, mainly for Norfolk). The protest/artwork it refers to took place off the coast of Norfolk, and was covered critically in a few editorial articles in that newspaper. So, I was glad that this was published to help counter the pro-Shell, anti-planet voices.
‘Butchered’ is an artwork by the well-known artist Anish Kapoor. You may have heard of it, as it was installed some miles off the Norfolk coast by Greenpeace in a spectacular ten minutes. Climbers hoisted a 12 by 8 metre canvas and let 1000 litres of non-toxic dye flow down it, creating a bloody ghost-like form. Thought to be the first ever artwork displayed on a working gas terminal, the location makes a strong point. To butcher is to kill and dismember an animal’s body for food. The artist’s point is that fossil fuel companies have butchered the body of our Earth for profit.
The red canvas creates a visible symbol for hot temperatures, raging fires and rising bloodshed. It’s made a few people angry. Red rags have that effect, and the angriest are the bulls who believe fossil fuels are vital for the economy. A Shell spokesperson said that Greenpeace’s action constituted dangerous and unlawful trespassing. What he didn’t say was to explain or apologise for Shell’s decision to ramp up gas sales while more than halving its investment in renewables, or for abandoning its 2030 target to cut ‘net carbon intensity’. Joined by BP, Equinor and others, they are actually increasing their investment in oil and gas.
This is incredible because human-caused climate change is real, proven, here and dangerous. Five Hiroshima bombs’ worth of extra energy is released into our oceans and skies every second, wreaking enormous destructive power on nature and human lives.
It matters here in Norfolk because we are among the UK’s areas most exposed to floods and heat stress, while we are least well-placed to prepare, respond and recover from these events.
Dangerous global heating is caused by burning fossil fuels and by animal agriculture, which means the butchering of trillions of animals each year for food, and of our green landscapes, ocean life and stable climate.
Kapoor says there seems to be “a collective will to not look at who are the real perpetrators of global warming”. Consumers are told to change their lifestyles, all while major energy companies have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in profits over three years. Yes, we individuals can help by flying less, switching to green energy and eating less meat.
However, more effective are legal and financial actions to reduce corporate powers to manipulate opinion, change laws, and damage Earth systems simply to make huge profits. For example, you can join the Polluter Pays movement, demanding that polluting companies pay for the loss and damage they cause. International law is on your side, as the ICJ ruled in July that all States are responsible for protecting the environment from Greenhouse Gases, which includes limiting corporate powers to profit from them.
Did you see red and feel angry at this protest or at others like it? Kapoor is calling on everyone to join in to protect our suffering planet: “This is our right and duty as citizens to protest and keep our consciousness alive.”
Try changing the colour to see green and blue, to reflect on how precious they are. A planet without green spaces for life and clean blue water will not sustain life for us humans. By saying we must keep our consciousness alive, he implies that the extinction of our intelligent species is possible.
Maybe this is artistic licence, but scientists know that global warming is happening forty times faster than the most destructive climate-based extinction events in Earth’s long history. The risks are real, and this is the last moment available to us for effective action.
Anish Kapoor quotes are from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/14/greenpeace-activists-install-huge-artwork-by-anish-kapoor-on-north-sea-gas-rig
The claim that Global Warming is happening 40 times faster than climate extinctions in the planet’s history https://www.climatetown.news/p/we-made-a-graph
The claim of Norfolk’s social & economic vulnerability to climate risks https://www.ukclimaterisk.org/publications/spatial-indicators-of-vulnerability-to-climate-related-hazards-sayers-2025/
If you’re an artist or cultural worker who wants to heed Kapoor’s call, you can join us Culture Declares Emergency
