Six women attempt skyscraper climb in Greenpeace Arctic publicity stunt

Six Greenpeace activists began climbing the Shard, a 72-story skyscraper on the south bank of the River Thames in London, to protest the Shell oil company’s Arctic drilling activities. (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS IMAGE)

In Greenpeace’s latest publicity stunt, six European women are attempting to climb the outside of the European Union’s tallest building, the 72-storey Shard in London, to protest the Shell oil company’s Arctic drilling activities.

Six women, from the U.K., Canada, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium, began to climb the Shard early on the morning of July 11.

When they get to the top they plan to hang “a huge work of art that captures the beauty of the Arctic,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

Shell’s headquarters in London are located near the Shard building on the south bank of the River Thames.

The Shard building, about 320 metres high, is designed to look like a shard of ice.

Greenpeace claims that if their activists are successful in hanging their art work, which they’re carrying in backpacks, “it will be the highest successful installation art project since Philippe Petit tightrope-walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.”

Greenpeace urges its followers to monitor the protest on the internet via a live video link at this web page, which features pop-up boxes soliciting support and a button seeking donations.

It’s part of a larger Greenpeace campaign called “Save the Arctic,” aimed at “campaigning for the area around the North Pole to be made a global sanctuary.”

One of the six women, Victoria Henry, 32, is originally from Vancouver, B.C. but now lives in London.

“When I was a kid I loved all those Attenborough nature shows, and when I saw how some people trashed these beautiful pristine places I just wanted to shout something from the rooftops,” Henry said in a Greenpeace handout.