Edinburgh University Climate Campaigners Target RBS (Updated)
Ric Lander | 15.10.2007 21:55 | Climate Chaos | Ecology
Students from Edinburgh University protested outside RBS branches in Edinburgh as part of Rising Tide's national day of action against RBS's funding of oil and gas extraction.
Students protest outside RBS's Central branch in Edinburgh.
Students protest outside RBS's Central branch in Edinburgh.
UPDATED 22:47 15/10/07
Edinburgh University Students, including many from the
University's People & Planet society, stepped up their campaign
against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) this morning. Alongside other
People & Planet groups and campaigners from the Rising Tide,
they took part in a national 'day of action' targeting the
Edinburgh-based bank.
The protests aim to highlight RBS's role as one of the world's
largest funders of climate-wrecking oil and gas extraction. Emissions
resulting from RBS-supported projects around the globe are greater than
those of the whole of Scotland.
At RBS's central branch in St. Andrew's Square, campaigners
gave out information to customers, held banners, and waved oil covered
hands. Elsewhere in the city, several branches had their
doors glued shut and were covered in "oil" and posters declaring them
"the climate change bank".
People & Planet recently worked with climate change
experts Platform
to write a report into RBS (2). The report draws attention to the
bank's crucial role in supporting the global oil and gas extraction
industry, where it publicly markets itself as 'the oil and gas bank'.
Sarah Holliday, a member of Edinburgh University People
& Planet said:
"RBS call themselves 'the oil and gas bank'. They provide
huge amounts of advice and funding for new oil extraction. Their fossil
fuels projects worldwide will lock us in to emissions for decades to
come – making a low carbon economy impossible. They are the
UK's main financial drivers of climate change."
The campaign is a part of the People & Planet national
campaign, "Ditch Dirty Development", which is also calling on the
Department for International Development to stop using aid money to
fund fossil fuel projects (3).
More photos can be found here.
1) People & Planet is the
UK's largest student campaigning network. It campaigns on world
poverty, human rights and the environment: www.peopleandplanet.org
http://pandp.eusa.ed.ac.uk
2) The report, entitled 'The Oil
and Gas Bank', can be found here
3)“Ditch
Dirty Development” campaign website
“Oil
Bank of Scotland” campaign website
Edinburgh University Students, including many from the
University's People & Planet society, stepped up their campaign
against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) this morning. Alongside other
People & Planet groups and campaigners from the Rising Tide,
they took part in a national 'day of action' targeting the
Edinburgh-based bank.
The protests aim to highlight RBS's role as one of the world's
largest funders of climate-wrecking oil and gas extraction. Emissions
resulting from RBS-supported projects around the globe are greater than
those of the whole of Scotland.
At RBS's central branch in St. Andrew's Square, campaigners
gave out information to customers, held banners, and waved oil covered
hands. Elsewhere in the city, several branches had their
doors glued shut and were covered in "oil" and posters declaring them
"the climate change bank".
People & Planet recently worked with climate change
experts Platform
to write a report into RBS (2). The report draws attention to the
bank's crucial role in supporting the global oil and gas extraction
industry, where it publicly markets itself as 'the oil and gas bank'.
Sarah Holliday, a member of Edinburgh University People
& Planet said:
"RBS call themselves 'the oil and gas bank'. They provide
huge amounts of advice and funding for new oil extraction. Their fossil
fuels projects worldwide will lock us in to emissions for decades to
come – making a low carbon economy impossible. They are the
UK's main financial drivers of climate change."
The campaign is a part of the People & Planet national
campaign, "Ditch Dirty Development", which is also calling on the
Department for International Development to stop using aid money to
fund fossil fuel projects (3).
More photos can be found here.
1) People & Planet is the
UK's largest student campaigning network. It campaigns on world
poverty, human rights and the environment: www.peopleandplanet.org
http://pandp.eusa.ed.ac.uk 2) The report, entitled 'The Oil
and Gas Bank', can be found here
3)“Ditch
Dirty Development” campaign website
“Oil
Bank of Scotland” campaign website
Ric Lander
e-mail:
ric.lander@peopleandplanet.org