Majestic Centre climbers launch public eviction of OMV

Tuesday, July 23: The Greenpeace climbers who are scaling the outside of the tallest building in Wellington have reached OMV’s offices on the 20th floor and announced a public protest to evict the Austrian oil giant.

Abigail Smith and Nick Hanafin have been climbing the Majestic Centre since dawn this morning to reach OMV’s headquarters.

They have deployed a series of brightly coloured banners up the building reading, ‘it’s a climate emergency’, ‘know your enemy’, ‘end oil’, and ‘evict OMV’.

They have now written on the windows of the oil giant’s offices inviting New Zealanders to join a peaceful public event to hand in an eviction notice signed by tens of thousands of people.

The event will take place on August 14, with more details to follow on a Facebook event page.

Greenpeace climate campaigner, Amanda Larsson, says almost 30,000 people have already signed the notice to evict OMV.

"We’re calling on New Zealanders to bring along their friends and family to help us hand in an eviction notice to OMV at their Majestic Centre headquarters," she says.

"Climate change is the issue of our time and we’re watching a global movement grow in strength and size every day. People everywhere are taking action, including the millions of students around the world going on strike from school.

"Oil companies like OMV have known for 30 years that burning fossil fuels is driving climate change. Instead of acting, the industry has poured billions of dollars into climate change denial and lobbying while continuing to push ever deeper into remote ends of the Earth in search of new oil and gas.

"Our message to OMV is clear: expect resistance - and see you again in August."

ENDS

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