Activists have chained themselves to the inside of a bank this morning over claims it is continuing to invest huge sums in fossil fuels - but staff have so far ignored protesters.
Barclays bank in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, was rushed by six members of Extinction Rebellion this morning (November 14) as part of a coordinated effort which saw the activism group target some 200 branches nationwide.
Wielding placards and emblazoned with damning slogans, the protesters say they will go to any lengths they can to get their message heard.
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“We will stay here for as long as we can,” said Andy Redfern, a spokesman for today’s effort in Newcastle.
“Every customer will see our message. If we get arrested, then so be it. There are people here who have been protesting against Barclays since 1984.”
The doors of the bank are not able to fully open, and several police officers and a van were at the scene this morning, though it is not yet understood whether police will leave protesters in place or remove them.
Branches across the country have been targeted, with one site in Birmingham seeing its windows smashed - with Extinction Rebellion confirming it is responsible.
The climate group said it is targeting Barclays “to highlight to its customers what is being done with their money”. They say the bank is the seventh biggest funder of fossil fuels in the world, and Europe’s biggest.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “At 9.45am today (Monday) police were made aware of an ongoing protest at a premises on Northumberland Street, Newcastle.
“Officers are in attendance at the scene engaging with those involved.”
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are determined to play our part in addressing the urgent and complex challenge of climate change. In March 2020 we were one of the first banks to set an ambition to become net zero by 2050, across all of our direct and indirect emissions, and we committed to align all of our financing activities with the goals and timelines of the Paris Agreement.
"We have a three-part strategy to turn that ambition into action: achieving net zero operations, reducing our financed emissions, and financing the transition. In practice, this means we have set 2030 targets to reduce our financed emissions in four of the highest emitting sectors in our financing portfolio, with additional 2025 targets for the two highest-emitting sectors – energy and power.
"We have also provided over £80bn of green financing and we are investing our own capital – £175m – into innovative, green start-ups.”
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