Shoppers and customers at Barclays and HSBC branches in Weymouth and Dorchester were today greeted by activists dressed as city bankers bearing open briefcases of oil-covered money.
Each briefcase displayed a message inside including ‘Barclays- Banking on Climate Breakdown’ and ‘HSBC- Fund our Future, Not Fossil Fuels’. Another activist read out facts about each bank’s environmental record on a megaphone and a sign invited people to pick up a leaflet with information on switching to more ethical banks.
In Weymouth:
In Dorchester:
The action is part of a global wave of ‘Money Rebellion’ where protestors in countries around the world are bringing attention to the role that banks and the finance industry play in the Climate and Ecological crisis.
The fossil fuel industry is destroying the planet, but these companies are only able to finance their mines and oilfields with the help of banks.
The worst climate offender bank in Europe is Barclays. In just three years Barclays provided 62 billion pounds in funding to fossil fuel companies, including companies involved in coal, fracking, tar sands, and Arctic oil projects.
HSBC is Europe’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels after Barclays. HSBC has not lived up to its pledges to curb activities destroying parts of the Amazon. Instead, HSBC have channelled tens of billions into companies which contribute to forest destruction and disastrous fires caused by industrial agriculture.
Andrew Smith from Extinction Rebellion said “We are here today to tell the truth about Europe’s dirtiest banks which, despite empty promises, continue to fund the most environmentally damaging projects in the world”.
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