Beginning at 9:20am over 50 activists disrupted and shut down Drax’s AGM preventing proceedings from beginning for over an hour. Activists blocked the building entrances, preventing shareholders from entering and dropping banners reading ‘Drax Kills’. Disruption continued inside, with activists physically disrupting proceedings, preventing Drax’s AGM from continuing. By 11:30am Drax had decided to close the entire meeting, meaning no further business could be conducted.
Activists blocked entry to the event through banners and picketing outside, delaying the meeting’s start. Further disruption occurred inside when members of the group rushed the stage, shouting ‘Drax kills’.
After the last activist was removed, Drax executives denied two frontline community members the right to speak, despite having travelled thousands of miles to be there from the Southern USA.
Activists took action to shut down Drax’s AGM, following the recent Government announcement of new subsidies for Drax estimated to cost the public over £2 billion from 2027-31, damning whistleblower exposés over Drax’s sourcing and coverups in Canada, and community impact surveys in the US finding that 86% of families had one or more person suffering health issues linked to pellet production [1,2,3]. Last year, Drax made over £1 billion in profit and received £869 million in subsidies [4].
Rosie Gloster, Axe Drax spokesperson:
“What gives Drax the right to kill forests, communities and our planet? It is unfathomable that our Government is handing billions from our bills over to Drax and its shareholders. Our message is clear: we will not stand by and allow Drax’s destruction to continue for a second longer. As attendees heard today, Drax’s operations are poisoning communities in the Southern US – leaving people relying on oxygen tanks and medication to survive. It’s a disgrace that not only that Drax’s poison and pollution continues, but that our Government forces us to subsidise their deadly destruction. Drax is doing everything it can to silence dissent, but we will not be silenced.”
Sam Johnson, Axe Drax spokesperson:
“We’re shutting down Drax’s AGM because we will not let them get away with their destruction. We’ve seen over the last year repeated desperate attempts from Drax to silence dissent – from spending millions working with the Police to shut down peaceful protest, to silencing whistleblowers. Drax’s operations target poor, Black communities and are leaving people unable to leave their homes, reliant on oxygen tanks to survive, their operations are destroying vital forests and driving us ever closer to climate collapse all whilst ripping off bill payers in this country. We will not be intimidated by Drax – Drax is killing people.”
ENDS
Contact: media@axedrax.uk
Spokespeople available on request.
Photos and videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JL7_qbzDAuvk8LuT-DGlosan19fW-1Jf?usp=drive_link
Axe Drax
Axe Drax is a UK based grassroots network that actively opposes Drax through disruptive direct action. We campaign for an end to Drax’s subsidies, due to the environmental, societal and planetary impacts of burning trees for energy. We are building a broad based network, working in solidarity with frontline communities to effectively confront the environmentally destructive biomass industry and the social and economic forces driving climate change.
Drax
Drax Power Station, located near Selby in Yorkshire, is the world’s biggest woody biomass power station and the UK’s single largest carbon emitter. Drax sources from around the world, primarily the US, Canada, and the Baltic States. Drax’s wood pellet production sites, predominantly located in environmental justice communities, emit large amounts of pollutants, such as PM10, PM2.5 and VOCs which are linked to respiratory and pulmonary health impacts. Woody biomass is counted as carbon neutral by the UK Government, allowing Drax to receive renewable energy subsidies (CfDs and ROCs).
Website: https://axedrax.uk
Social Media:
https://x.com/axe_drax
https://www.instagram.com/axe_drax
https://axedrax.bsky.social/
https://www.tiktok.com/@axe_drax
Notes for editors
[3] https://www.selc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Biomass_Report_0924_F.pdf
[4] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/drax-biomass-subsidies-in-2024/