**Update**
Today's the day! There are actions taking place all over the country, including:
PRESS RELEASE: 'Climate refugees' locked up at the Oil Bank of Scotland, Bristol
A group of 'climate refugees' is blocking the vehicle entrance to the Royal
Bank of Scotland's Corporate Offices at Temple Quay to shine the spotlight
on climate criminals RBS, the self-proclaimed 'Oil and Gas' Bank.
Six people from Bristol Rising Tide for Climate Action dressed as homeless
polar bears have locked themselves together and are currently preventing all
vehicles entering the RBS branch. This is part of a National Day of Local
Action against the Royal Bank of Scotland called by those hugely concerned
with the devastation to the climate, planet and people.[1]
RBS-NatWest publicly promotes itself as "The Oil & Gas Bank". They provide
the financial fuel that is accelerating climate change. Without these loans
to oil and gas corporations the projects would not happen. [2]It is estimate
that *in 2006, the bank provided over $10 billion to fossil fuels – more
than five times that provided to renewable energy.[3]*
RBS provide oil corporations with loans to build new massively ecologically
detrimental drilling rigs, pipelines and oil tankers. [4] And as RBS's
profits rise so does the carbon in the atmosphere.
Global climate change already forces more people from their homes each year
than war. And as the effects worsen, one in seven people on Earth today
could be forced to leave their homes over the next 50 years. [5]
A polar bear said, "I am here to let RBS know that their funnelling of cash
into fossil fuel projects is making myself and millions of other animals,
including humans homeless."
Another polar bear said "If carbon dioxide molecules had corporate tags of
responsibility, the atmosphere would be full of RBS logos mingling with
those of BP, Exxon and Shell!"
Contact:
Bristol Rising Tide 07951789187
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Notes for Editors
[1] The day of action was called by the UK Rising Tide Network at this years
Camp for Climate Action which took place next to Heathrow Airport.
www.risingtide.org.uk
[2] In 2005 emissions from RBS financed oil and gas projects was about a
quarter of the amount produced by all UK homes.
[3] taken from: *The Oil and Gas Bank; RBS and the financing of climate
change *http://peopleandplanet.org/dl/ddd/rbs_report.pdf
[4] RBS is helping force open the carbon frontier, financing controversial
projects in Nigeria, the Caucasus and Wales. Its involvement in Angolan and
Nigerian oil fields encourages corruption and conflict, while gas projects
from the Arabian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico threaten environmental
destruction.
[5] Figures from "Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis," by Christian Aid.
The report calls for "urgent action by the world community" if the worst
effects of this crisis are to be averted.
Here's some info from earlier:
*There are leaflets available to hand out on the day if you don't fancy
making your own. (Front - click here. Back - click here. And if you want editable versions email us and we'll email them to you).
*Stickers are also available for whatever silly, serious or subversive
purpose you can think of! Email us with a postal address to get a stash sent to you (these aren't linked to the day of action so they'll be useful into the future)
*There will be a national press release about the day of action, so if
you're planning something public and want to let the national press know about it, please send us the details. We'll also do a press release on the day, so email us or better yet phone 07961 917535 to be included in the national action round-up (and put it on Indymedia too of course!)
Here's the original call-out:
Inspired by the Camp for Climate Action? Don't wait till next year to take part in collective direct action against the causes of climate change. At this year’s Camp, the Rising Tide network called a Day of Local Action against RBS, major backer of the aviation industry and the world's self-described ‘Oil and Gas Bank’.
This is a call for groups and individuals across the land to take creative, local, direct action against RBS on Monday 15th October.
RBS: FINANCING CLIMATE CHANGE
RBS provides oil companies with the cash to build and operate drilling rigs, pipelines and oil tankers. And through Aviation Capital, RBS helps airlines to launch ever more planes – and carbon emissions – into the skies. From the Niger Delta to the Arctic, from the North Sea to the Middle East, RBS loans play a key role in forcing open the new carbon frontier, which contributes to environmental destruction, disruption of indigenous peoples and increased conflict across the planet.
RBS is the second-largest bank in Europe and has global assets of over $1120 billion, including UK brands NatWest, Direct Line and Churchill Insurance. Despite creating a heavily greenwashed public image through sponsorship of sports and the arts, RBS activities have major destructive impacts on the environment and society. The thirty oil and gas finance deals RBS signed between 2001 and 2006 locked us all into 655 million tonnes of emissions over the next 15 years, more than the UK’s entire annual emissions.
The financial institutions funnelling cash into fossil fuel projects have stood in the shadows for far too long. They may be many miles removed from oil rigs and runways, safely ensconced in shiny glass towers, but if the profit motive is at the heart of the climate crisis, the banks are as culpable as the oil and airline industries. On 15th October, it’s time to switch our spotlight onto one of the biggest climate criminals of all: RBS, the leading financier of climate change.
Get together with your local group, build on connections made at the Camp, reach out to others in your area... and on 15th October, get out in the streets where you live and confront RBS with your own chosen style of creative direct action.
For more information download PLATFORM’s report 'The Oil and Gas Bank'.
To find your nearest RBS branch or office, click here.
If you want a poster to help you organise a local planning meeting or simply to tell people about the day of action, you can download one by clicking here
For help with planning effective actions, visit the Network for Climate Action.
Click on the links below to see a leaflet you can hand out on the day. If you'd like editable versions, please email info@risingtide.org.uk.
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