Skip to content
openDemocracy
Subscribe

BP paid ex-MI6 spy firm to snoop on green campaigners

Exclusive: Oil giant also shared intelligence on environmentalists with British Museum and Warwick University in ‘shocking’ web of surveillance

By Lucas Amin, Martin Williams and Gabriel Pogrund
BP paid ex-MI6 spy firm to snoop on green campaigners
CCTV image held by BP, showing Chris Garrard at a train station in 2015 | BP
Published:
Share

Oil and gas giant BP spent years spying on peaceful climate campaigners – and even hired a private intelligence firm set up by a former MI6 agent.

An investigation by openDemocracy reveals a “shocking” web of surveillance that saw BP keep tabs on campaigners and share information with public institutions, including the British Museum and the University of Warwick.

The company's targets include Chris Garrard, a classical music composer with a doctorate from Oxford University. The 34-year-old from Basingstoke works with the Art Not Oil group, campaigning against BP’s decades-long sponsorship of the British Museum.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. If you have any queries about republishing please contact us. Please check individual images for licensing details.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0