Climate Activists Superglue Banks Shut In Sticky Protest Against Oil Enablers
Image via Extinction Rebellion
Numerous banks in the UK were closed on Monday, though not by their own hand.
Anti-oil group Extinction Rebellion’s offshoot, Money Rebellion, is pushing Barclays Bank to balance the books and take positive action as one of Europe’s largest funders of fossil-fuel projects. On Sunday, activists took to nearly 50 branches of the bank and superglued their doors shut in the dead of night, leaving employees and customers locked out of the establishments on Monday morning.
The stunt was aimed at holding Barclays accountable for its significant role in fossil fuel projects, which the group labels as “climate-wrecking criminal damage.” The demonstration saw members targeting various Barclays locations, including branches on London’s Tottenham Court Road and Kilmarnock Road in Glasgow.
Some locations had the phrase “fossil fools” graffitied on their doors, and then had their entrances sealed with superglue.
Posters put up outside the banks read, “We have closed the bank today,” and called for the “time to change.”
The activists’ goal was to push Barclays to cease its funding of these initiatives and to encourage customers to switch their accounts to banks with more ethical investment practices.
This isn’t the first time Barclays has been the focus of environmental protests. In 2020, Greenpeace demonstrators similarly disabled the doors of 97 Barclays branches. Barclays, according to the 2023 Banking on Climate Chaos report, has invested over US$190.58 billion in fossil fuels from 2016 to 2022.
While they expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to staff and customers, Money Rebellion members stood firm on the significance of their actions. They argued that the bank’s current investment practices are inconsistent with the advice from international energy and climate organizations.
Per a statement published in the Independent, a Barclays spokesperson later highlighted the bank’s commitment to reducing investments in high emitting sectors by 32% since 2020, with a target to become a net-zero bank by 2050.
“Climate change is real and happening now,” Money Rebellion addresses. “We urge Barclays customers to use their power by moving their account to a bank more aligned with a liveable future for the planet.”
[via The Independent, LBC, The Argus, Extinction Rebellion, images via Extinction Rebellion]
This article was crafted with assistance from an AI engine, and has been manually reviewed & edited.
