The climate activists of Extinction Rebellion expanded recently into a Money Rebellion, as I blogged about last Friday. Targetting the banks that pollute the planet - specifically Barclays and HSBC in the UK - they will hold a range of protests today, gluing themselves with locks to the entrance to bank branches and disrupting the Barclays AGM.
I CAN TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHY.
When banks say they are doing good for the planet publicly and then stuff the planet privately for profit, something is wrong.
If you're interested in more about this and want to donate or support their cause, you can do that here. Meanwhile, here is the campaign statement that the folks want to share with our esteemed colleagues in the financial community:
To the directors, executive and shareholders of Barclays on this 5th May 2021.
We commit today during your Annual General meeting that we will use any non-violent, economic or political means necessary to ensure that this is Barclays’ last AGM unless you stop all financing of fossil fuels.
We commit to cancelling all your future shareholder meetings and call upon allies, society, investors and the government to stop you from making any further investments that fuel climate breakdown.
Today we make it clear that this movement will stop you before it’s too late. We will target you, we will regulate you, we will prosecute you, we will dismantle the economic systems and systems of power that you maintain, we will force you to make reparations for the climate crisis and extractivism that you continue to enable around the world.
All shareholders at today’s AGM should know that every day you remain the UK’s biggest fossil fuel investor you do so at the expense of millions of people’s lives and homes, at the expense of our planet’s fragile ecosystems, at the expense of your own children’s future, at the expense of good green jobs and of the just transition to a renewable-powered future that is a human right for people everywhere.
History will judge Barclays executives, directors and investors harshly for putting profit ahead of the safety and rights of humanity for this long.
Today is a historic day. Today we announce that we will not wait for that bleak future. We will block your money pipeline to fossil fuels and nature destruction at every turn from this day forward.
Today will be the last Barclays Annual General Meeting while you continue to invest in fossil fuels. We will use our creativity, our ingenuity and our bodies to make any future shareholders meetings impossible.
It is our duty to let the world know that you put shareholder profit before people and planet
It is our duty to demand climate justice.
It is our duty to hold you accountable with this ultimatum
Will you do your duty and stop investing in the fossil fuels that destroy our climate?
One year left.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
