Federer shrugs off criticism over deal with Credit Suisse
Roger Federer issued a non-committal reply yesterday to Greta Thunberg and the rest of the climate activists who have been protesting against the sponsorship deal he has with Credit Suisse – a bank closely associated with fossil fuel extraction.
Twelve Swiss activists appeared in court on Tuesday after they had refused to pay fines incurred when they staged a publicity stunt last year, playing tennis in whites inside various branches of Credit Suisse to highlight Federer’s relationship with the bank.
The hashtag #WakeUpRoger began trending on Twitter this week, and protesters outside the courtroom held up banners reading “Credit Suisse is destroying the planet. Roger, do you support them?”
Meanwhile, Thunberg retweeted a post from 350.org Europe – an activist group named after the upper limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that scientists believe would be safe – that claimed Credit Suisse had given $57billion to organisations searching for new fossil fuel deposits. “@RogerFederer do you endorse this?” was the last line of the tweet. Credit Suisse says it will stop financing the development of new coal-fired power plants.
Climate concerns have been in the news in Australia because of the bushfires, which prompted more than 100,000 protesters to march in nine cities across the country on Friday to register their anger at the way the government has handled the disaster. Federer has signed up to headline a fundraising exhibition – to be staged at the Rod Laver Arena five days before the Australian Open – in aid of relief, which will also involve Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki.
However, Federer’s response yesterday did not make any commitment to changing his relationship with Credit Suisse. “I take the impacts and threat of climate change very seriously, particularly as my family and I arrive in Australia amidst devastation from the bushfires,” said the statement from Federer, who has been practising in Melbourne since the weekend.
“As the father of four young children and a fervent supporter of universal education, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the youth climate movement, and I am grateful to young climate activists for pushing us all to examine our behaviours and act on innovative solutions.”
“We owe it to them and ourselves to listen. I appreciate reminders of responsibility as an individual, as an athlete and as an entrepreneur, and I’m committed to using this privileged position to dialogue on important issues with my sponsors.”