Climate protesters in ‘funeral’ at bank
AGROUP of Extinction Rebellion protesters held a fake funeral outside Barclays bank to commemorate those killed through climate change.
The group dressed in black, placed a tombstone, wreaths and flowers and played mournful music outside the branch on Yorkshire Street in Rochdale, on Friday October 29.
They also read out the number of people who have been killed due to climate-related disasters in recent years.
The Rev Mark Coleman, who used to be Vicar of Rochdale before his recent retirement, led prayers for the dead.
The group also protested at Barclays bank funding fossil fuel projects.
The Rev Mark Coleman said: “Our hearts break when we remember the death of so many and the needless destruction of this beautiful world.
“This is not about statistics but about real lives like yours and mine that are lost prematurely.
“People are dying in massive numbers - and it will get worse unless we stop it.”
According to the Banking On Climate Chaos report Barclays was found to have financed around $145 billion in fossil fuels.
It also found that since the beginning of 2020 Barclays had financed companies pursuing new and expanded coal mining and power and oil and gas extraction assets.
Climate activist and Rochdale resident Jane Touil said: “People are becoming more aware of the climate emergency and are trying to live more sustainably. We know that fossil fuels are the main cause of global heating. Barclays talks about its climate friendly ambitions.
“It finances companies which are pursuing new fossil fuel projects, including very environmentally damaging fracking and tar sands projects.”
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are aligning our entire financing portfolio to support the goals of the Paris Agreement - significantly scaling up green financing, directly investing in new green technologies and helping clients in key sectors change their business models to reduce their climate change impact.
“By 2025, we will reduce the emissions intensity of our power portfolio by 30%, and reduce absolute emissions of our energy portfolio by 15%. Increasing at pace, Barclays has already facilitated £46bn of green finance.
“We are one of the only banks globally investing our own capital - £175m - into innovative, green start-ups. By deploying finance in this way, we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and will become a net zero bank by 2050.”