Munich (Germany) (AFP)
"Siemens, get out of the coal!": Environmental activists invited themselves Wednesday in Munich to the general assembly of the German industrial giant to denounce his participation in a controversial mining project in Australia.
In the morning, a hundred demonstrators formed a human chain in front of the conference hall of the Olympiahalle. A demonstration was to follow in the early afternoon.
These actions crystallize a fundamental trend: Siemens has become a target for environmentalists who criticize the manufacturer of turbines, trains or wind turbines for being too involved in projects and contracts deemed harmful to the climate.
A ball-shaped subject for the group. It now tends to dominate all the others, including the financial results announced Wednesday but relegated to the background, with a quarterly net profit down slightly and a turnover up 1% year on year. Siemens has also maintained its forecasts for "moderate growth" in turnover for 2020.
- Australian mine -
The object of the dispute: a contract in the amount of 18 million euros, which provides that Siemens provide the signage for the railway of the Carmichael project, a huge open-pit coal mine in Queensland in Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef.
Faced with its shareholders, Siemens boss Joe Kaeser defended himself by finding "almost grotesque" that the group had become the bane of environmentalists.
He invited them to "see what Siemens is actually doing for the environment".
Recalling its commitment to carbon neutrality "by 2030", Mr. Kaeser announced an investment of one billion euros before 2025 to reduce the impact of Siemens on climate change.
Siemens' wind industry, Gamesa, should "play a big role" in achieving this goal. The group announced Tuesday the repurchase of the participation of the Spanish Iberdrola up to 8.1%.
Joe Kaeser also recalled his intention to create an internal body responsible for sustainable development to "better manage environmental protection issues in the future".
- Fridays for Future -
Supported by several environmental organizations, notably Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future intends to take advantage of the annual general meeting of shareholders to increase the pressure on the company.
"Until Siemens backtrack, we will continue our mobilization," warned a representative of this movement, Helena Marschall.
She is invited by a shareholder organization to speak at the meeting in the afternoon, like other activists.
The boss of Siemens had agreed to meet Luisa Neubauer, leader of Fridays for Future in Germany in mid-January, about the Australian mining project, after a day of mobilization in ten cities.
At the same time, Siemens had maintained its participation in the project, explaining that it wanted to "respect the word given" in order to "remain credible". A decision deemed "catastrophic" by environmental activists.
The construction of the Adani Indian conglomerate mine in western Australia has been plagued by legal and regulatory problems since its inception and by the mobilization of organizations tirelessly denouncing its environmental impact.
Environmentalists argue that the exploitation of the mine will contribute to global warming and degrade the Great Barrier, classified as World Heritage.
Greenpeace deployed a banner on Tuesday from the roof of Siemens' headquarters in Munich. Its slogan: "Australia's wildfires start here."
© 2020 AFP