Olivia Colman Stars As Oil Exec In Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign Ad

Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman stars as “Oblivia Coalmine,” a latex-clad oil executive, in a campaign video targeting the ties between pension funds and the fossil fuel industry.

Known for her roles in The Favourite and Netflix show The Crown, Colman’s character cynically thanks pension holders for their unwitting support in the video.

“The cash from your pensions has helped us dig, drill and destroy more of the planet than ever before,” she says in the 80-second advert, even jesting about constructing wind turbines to appease environmentalists like Greta Thunberg.

The video, part of the Make My Money Matter campaign led by filmmaker Richard Curtis, aims to push pension schemes to divest from fossil fuel projects.

The campaign highlights that £88 billion from UK pensions fund fossil fuel companies, with £20 billion to Shell alone. Curtis emphasises that pensions are fueling the climate crisis and urges immediate action from pension schemes.

The campaign, gaining momentum ahead of the Cop28 climate summit, previously featured Game of Thrones stars Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie in a related video. Harrington played a bank, in love with Leslie’s oil company character, drawing attention to the relationship between finance and fossil fuels industries.