Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland and United Action UK are initiating the Stop Seapeak Coalition to target Seapeak Maritime Glasgow and its LNG fleet that is complicit in the direct funding of the Russian war effort on Ukraine through the transportation of Russian Liquified Natural Gas from the gas fields in Yamal Siberia to many European ports. Building on the important work done against Seapeak by B4Ukraine, Razom and USCS as well as other campaigns across the world, this newly formed UK-based coalition will work holistically to put pressure on the UK government to ensure that the company cannot evade sanctions and continue funding the Russian colonial war machine out of their office in Glasgow, Scotland. We aim to protest on the streets and campaign across unions, universities, climate camps, our neighbourhoods and social media until the necessary sanctions are applied and Seapeak’s shadow fleet is not allowed to dock on European waters. This is not only a fight against the prolonging of Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine but also an issue of Indigenous and Climate justice, for the Yamal gas fields cover two-thirds of the peninsula which the Nenets people need for nomadic reindeer-herding to ensure their livelihoods. We call on the UK, and particularly Scotland based organisations to join our coalition in any possible capacity, and fight with us to spread awareness on this issue and make a difference where we can, together.
Who/what is Seapeak?
Seapeak Maritime is a Glasgow shipping company. It is one of the largest independent owner-operators of liquefied gas vessels—and it directly facilitates the flow of Russian gas across the world from its offices in the center of Glasgow. Seapeak Maritime operate a fleet of LNG tankers all across the world, including five LNG icebreakers that are able to transport Russian LNG from Siberia via the North Sea.
Despite the UK Government’s ongoing support for Ukraine and a robust rhetoric around sanctioning Russia’s economic ability to wage its illegal war on Ukraine, what Seapeak is doing remains outside the scope of the UK’s sanctions regime.
What is LNG?
LNG stands for liquified natural gas. Liquefied methane gas is a fossil fuel. LNG allows for the transportation of natural gas without pipelines - but it comes at a heavy environmental cost. LNG is shale gas which has been cooled to -162 degrees Celsius in an incredibly energy-intensive process that produces a liquid form. It is then transported via LNG tanker ships across our oceans and eventually piped into people’s homes.
Research has shown that exported gas emits far more greenhouse gas emissions than coal, despite fossil-fuel industry claims it is a cleaner alternative. This is due to the extensive emissions generated by drilling, extracting, cooling and shipping LNG. A Cornell University research team concluded LNG may well be up to 33% more damaging to the climate than coal. Methane is a dangerous driver of climate breakdown.Yet, Europe and the UK are increasingly reliant on LNG. US-sourced LNG makes up half of all gas used in the UK, while Europe imported a record amount of Russian LNG in 2024 making Russia the second biggest source of LNG to the continent. It is this growing market that Glasgow-based company Seapeak is fuelling, while adding profits to Putin’s war coffers.
Why is this important for Ukraine?
LNG exports represent a key income stream for individual Russian companies, but also for the state. Moreover, it is an income stream Russia is keen to grow, with reports that Moscow hopes to increase its global share of the LNG market from 8% to 20%.
The LNG trade has allowed Russia to evade pipeline export suspensions and a number of sanctions. Importantly, as Russia has adjusted to a war-driven economy, state income is funnelled directly into its ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Thus, facilitating the LNG trade directly supports Russia’s war economy and undermines any effectiveness of a sanctions regime.
Why is this important for climate justice and indigenous rights?
LNG is a fossil fuel and as such its extraction and use must be stopped. Further, Russian LNG comes from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which represents 80% of Russia's natural gas and 15% of the world's natural gas supply. Stopping this trade is crucial to halting the climate emergency and redirecting global financial resources towards renewable energy.
A 2022 report from the Russian Federal Service for Hydro-meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) found that average temperatures along the Russian Arctic coast have increased by approximately 5 degrees Celsius since 1998. Russia has no plans to become carbon neutral before 2100 and intends to exploit fossil fuels in the Arctic for the Asian market.
The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is home to the indigenous Nenets people, but growing fossil extraction poses an existential threat to their traditional way of life. In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022, the Nenets have been reported as one of Russia's ethnic minority groups suffering from a disproportionately large casualty rate among Russian forces. According to activist and researcher Maria Vyushkova, the oil and gas industry in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug "doesn't bring anything to the indigenous population. On the contrary, it destroys the environment and what they live on - reindeer herding and fishing. Consequently, being in a dire economic situation, people are forced to join the army."
What has been done to date?
Feb 2024: B4Ukraine letter to Seapeak raising their complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine
July 2024: Sky News, The Times and other outlets report on Seapeak’s continued trade with Russian LNG
July 2024: Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland organise a protest outside Seapeak’s offices in Glasgow and launch a public appeal for sanctions
October 2024: Joint appeal with Razom We Stand and Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland backed by a number of elected representatives, trade unions and civil society groups including Greenpeace Ukraine
October 2024: MSP motion to sanction Seapeak
October 204: Daily Record backs USCS campaign
November 2024: More press for campaign demands against Seapeak
January 2025: Chris Law MP raises the issue of sanctions on Seapeak in an Early Day Motion in the British Parliament
March 2025: Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer writes to UK Government demanding action to sanction Seapeak
March 2025: Another Europe is Possible (affiliate to USC) launches a letter-writing campaign to UK MPs to back EDM 651
Who is calling for this coalition?
Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland is a group of trade unionists and activists across the labour movement who organise in solidarity with Ukrainian people’s right to self-determination and independence. We aim to campaign in the interests of the Ukrainian people, in Ukraine and in Scotland. We work across trade unions and civil society organisations to provide political and material support to Ukrainians and amplify their demands.
United Action (UK) is a transnational entity of accomplices focused on establishing and strengthening networks of solidarity between liberatory struggles.
We actively invite other collectives and organisations to join us in fighting against Russian colonialism, environmental destruction and corporate impunity within this coalition!
We are calling on a foundational meeting for the Coalition to take place online on April 16th, get in touch with via uscscotland@gmail.com to join!
Resources consulted and further reading list:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/04/exported-liquefied-natural-gas-coal-study
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/10/liquefied-natural-gas-carbon-footprint-worse-coal
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/case-against-liquefied-methane-gas-exports/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63585732
https://news.sky.com/story/tankers-carrying-russian-gas-face-uk-sanctions-for-first-time-13222436
https://b4ukraine.org/pdf/Seapeak.pdf
https://ukrainesolidarity.scot/2024/07/22/stop-seapeak-financing-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/votes-and-motions/S6M-14857
https://ukrainesolidarity.scot/2024/10/28/daily-record-backs-campaign-to-stop-seapeak/
https://greens.scot/news/government-must-close-glasgow-company-aiding-russia-say-greens
https://www.anothereurope.org/write-to-your-mp-sanction-shipping-of-russian-gas/
https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/05/01/14095_moscow_eliminating_indigenous.html
https://ejatlas.org/conflict/mega-natural-gas-project-yamal-arctic-russia