Environmental activists disrupted a conference held at Jesus College on Tuesday (12/05), organised by the UN Environment Programme to “build relationships” between “business, finance and conservation leaders”.
The Organisation of Radical Cambridge Activists (ORCA) accused the event of hosting “major polluters, multinational mining giants, companies accused of indigenous rights violations, and insurance companies profiting off oil, gas, and arms”.
Picketing the entrance, a group of protesters from the organisation described the conference as “greenwashing”. Demonstrators shouted slogans and handed out leaflets to passers-by – others unfurled a giant red web.
Activists dressed as miners entered the conference area in Jesus’ West Court during the lunch break, and played loud noises to disrupt the event.
According to ORCA, College porters asked protesters to leave, before calling the police, who allegedly informed the College that demonstrators had a right to peacefully protest.
The Nature Action Dialogues conference is an annual collaboration between the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) – which is based in Cambridge – their Proteus Partnership, and the Jesus College Intellectual Forum.
It describes itself as a “forum where business, finance and conservation leaders meet as peers to advance collaboration at the nexus of biodiversity, climate, water, and health,” with an aim to “build relationships […] to scale impact and influence collective action”.
ORCA claims that “one fifth of the speakers at the conference came from companies with serious records of pollution, over-extraction, or violence against indigenous populations”. It said these included speakers from Nestlé, Brazilian wood pulp supplier Suzano, mining company Teck, and conservation charity WWF, which it accuses of violating the rights of indigenous people.
Speakers also included the director of UNEP-WCMC, the founder of non-profit ‘Global Canopy’, the sustainability director for Lloyds Banking Group, and academics from LSE and the University of Oxford.
One protester told Varsity: “We think it’s really hypocritical to call this a green thing while bringing together the funders of genocide and the people who are mining and extracting us into this crisis in the first place.”
Passers-by initially assumed the demonstration was a pro-Palestine protest, with activists shouting related slogans. In response, a protester said: “We recognise the interconnectedness of different struggles. When people are together from these big corporations, they get together and they decide how to slice up the planet.
“This is the way that imperialism carves up resources and the world, and so we have to connect all of these issues together if we’re going to fight them.”
The WWF told Varsity it “strongly disputes” ORCA’s claims against it, adding: “Indigenous peoples and local communities are at the heart of conservation, bringing deep knowledge, care, and connection to the natural world. WWF is committed to working alongside them with respect and to protecting their rights.”
Approached for comment, Suzano referred Varsity to its “long term collaboration” with Jesus College, which involved a £10 million donation to “support education and research” into environmental issues in 2024.
A spokesperson for Nestlé told Varsity: “Nestlé engages in forums like this to share our approach to sustainability, backed by our Net Zero Roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 (vs 2018) and reach net zero by 2050 at the latest.”
Jesus College, Teck, and UNEP-WCMC were contacted for comment.
