LOCOG criticised for partnering with oil giant BP
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games faced criticism on having as an official partner for the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games the giant oil company, BP.
The criticism holds the Olympic organisers as responsible for not considering the broader impact of having such a company on-board.
When the bid to host the London 2012 Olympic Games was made, the leaders of the delegation argued their case by advocating the greenest Olympics that the world with ever see if the bid was given to London.
However, the association of the London organisers with the oil giant BP seem to be contradictory to the claims made by the London 2012 organizers.
As a result of the partnership with BP, the Olympic organisers have been criticised by the environmental groups, artists as well as development groups among others.
In this regard, a letter has been sent to the International Olympic Committee, LOCOG as well as the Commission for a Sustainable London that points out the failure of the Olympic organisers. The letter which has been formally sent supports the signatures
of 30 institutions as well as individuals from different walks of life.
The signatories of the letter include Greenpeace UK, London mayoral candidate Jenny Jones, the World Development Movement, the Polaris Institute, Climate Rush and the UK Tar Sands Network among others.
The letter has communicated its point about the partnership of BP with London Olympics in the following words, “BP's business model involves continuing to extract fossil fuels long into the future, playing a central role in ushering in irreversible climate
change. In other words, it is one of the least sustainable companies on earth. In virtually every element of BP's involvement in London 2012 there is cause for alarm as to how it got Locog's blessing and slipped past the commission's watchful eye.”
The partnership of the Olympics with BP is going to be providing fuel to the vehicles of the Olympic officials during the London Olympics which are scheduled to start from July 27 and last until August 12. This is the second time that the LOCOG has been
criticized for its sponsorship, the first time for its association with Dow Chemical company.
Tags: