If you’re saying no to war, you have to say no to oil

Each 2 October, the world marks Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, also celebrating it as International Day of Non-Violence. Traditionally the day commemorates the practice of peaceful protest and "the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence". 

In 2023, with the war in Ukraine raging, Western governments should look deeper: any serious non-violent strategy must also include a move away from fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels have a long history at the heart of global conflict. It stems as far back as World War I when oil became crucial in the mechanisation of armies — both the UK and US navies switched from coal to oil — but also as a catalyst for conflict, as the global thirst for petroleum grew.

It has been something of a constant in the chronicles of conflicts around the world ever since. Wars are fought over oil, yes. But oil also fuels and funds war. 

And the fossil fuel industry profits from war. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has provided the most comprehensive view yet of this entangled, multifaceted, sinister relationship between oil and war.

Whilst Western governments decry the war in Ukraine, falling over themselves to condemn Russia’s war of aggression and demonstrate support for Ukrainians, they have done very little to disentangle the oil industry from this war. 

When Russia invaded, oil companies wasted no time in announcing that they were pulling out of Russia, and in December 2022, the EU and the UK implemented an embargo on the import of Russian crude oil. 

But Global Witness investigations have revealed the extent of British and European firms' continued involvement in the trade of Russian oil: in the year after Russia launched its invasion — before the bans came into effect —