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Climate Camp activists superglue themselves to RBS

adelayde | 08.08.2008 08:33 | Climate Camp 2008 | Climate Chaos

This morning at 8.30 AM, activists from the Camp for Climate Action
superglued themselves to
the front doors of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Oil and Gas Division in Bishopsgate,
Central London wielding a banner reading “RBS: Cashing In On Coal”.

The following is taken from the Camp's press release:

"Location: 199 Broadgate Court, Bishop's Gate, near Liverpool Street station.

Royal Bank Of Scotland Targeted By Climate Camp Activists For The Second
Day Running

Activists from the Camp for Climate Action have superglued themselves to
the front doors of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Oil and Gas Division in
Central London [1]. Wielding a banner reading “RBS: Cashing In On Coal”,
the campaigners are staging this protest to highlight the links between
the financial sector, the fossil fuel industry, and disastrous climate
change.

This action follows the protest at RBS’s headquarters yesterday, when 15
students staged a “die-in” blockade [2] to demand that the bank stop
funding fossil fuel projects including the proposed new coal power station
at Kingsnorth. Today’s action, which takes place as part of the climate
camp and involves members of the climate action network Rising Tide [3],
will show the bank that this campaign pressure is not going to go away.

In 2007, projects financed by RBS were responsible for more emissions that
the whole of Scotland. Along with other banks, RBS participated in
financing E.ON – the owners of Kingsnorth coal-fired power station - $70
billion over the course of 2007 [4]. RBS has financed companies like Arch
Coal, who are engaging in controversial mountain top removal mining in the
US [5], and are also financing companies like Dynegy [6] who are looking
to roll out new coal power stations across America.

Sarah Horne, who is at the Climate Camp in Kent, said:
“The Climate Camp has always been about far more than just stopping a new
power station at Kingsnorth. The fact that the Royal Bank of Scotland has
been targeted twice in as many days highlights the intimate involvement of
well-known high street banks in the destruction of our climate, thanks to
the billions of pounds they invest in fossil fuel projects each year. We
need to shift to a different kind of economy – one that doesn’t rely on
endless economic growth at all costs, and respects the natural limits of
the planet.”

Sam Harrison, who is currently superglued to the entrance of RBS’s oil and
gas division, said “The fact that RBS have a special office dedicated
entirely to funding oil and gas projects shows exactly where their
priorities lie. We need to radically reduce our use of fossil fuels to
have any chance of avoiding disastrous climate change, so it is completely
perverse for RBS to keep pouring so much money into oil, gas and coal.
We’re here to make them to take responsibility for their actions.”

PHOTOS ON REQUEST:  press@climatecamp.org.uk.

For updates and interviews about the action contact Sam Harrison on 07939
142072. For information about the Camp for Climate Action, call
07531396232 or see www.climatecamp.org.uk.

NOTES:

[1] RBS London’s Oil and Gas Division address is at 199 Broadgate Court,
Bishop's Gate, near Liverpool Street station.

[2] The students posed as oil-covered dead bodies to block the entrance to
RBS’s HQ. For more details on yesterday’s RBS action, contact Richard Roaf
on 07801140192

[3] For more information about Rising Tide see www.risingtide.org.uk

[4] Project Finance, Issue No. 287, February 2008

[5] Bank Track, Mind The Gap, 2007, pp 124-5

[6] www.banktrack.org"





adelayde