Greenpeace urges bank to withdraw

Four volunteers from Bath Greenpeace delivered a message in the form of a cash machine to the town’s Barclays bank to protest its ties to “environmentally destructive” oil pipelines. According to a Bath Greenpeace spokesman, Barclays is the only UK bank which reportedly funds pipelines to take oil from Canada’s tar sands. Canada is trying to build three huge pipelines to extract oil from tar sands, which would cross forests, mountains, indigenous lands and many rivers. The pressure group believes the pipelines would risk spilling the rivers and coastal waters of Canada and the US, as well as producing more carbon than almost any other fuel. It could also accelerate climate change and trigger more extreme global weather. The volunteers set up the pretend cash point and a stall near the Southgate branch on two days June 30 and July 14. Bank customers and shoppers were invited to sign fake Barclaycards and write a message to the bank about their investments, and to have their picture taken cutting up a credit card. The ATM and its contents were then handed to the branch’s manager on July 28 along with a letter from Greenpeace explaining their problem with Barclays’ policies. A member of the Bath Greenpeace group, Clare Kingswell, said: “Barclays is the only UK bank still choosing to fund these dirty, dangerous projects, and the pipelines need that money. Stand with the indigenous communities protecting water, wildlife and our shared climate, and hold Barclays to account.”