Extinction Rebellion target bank in Lewes High Street

Barclays in Lewes was targeted on Friday (August 27) by climate activists aiming to highlight the bank’s fossil fuel investments. The group, all members of Extinction Rebellion Lewes, Newhaven and Seaford, stencilled the message across the front of the High Street building.

Dirk Campbell, who led the Lewes action, said: “Barclays needs to be told that funding fossil fuels is not okay. They are talking up their green credentials and their infinitesimally small investments in green businesses in an attempt to obscure the fact that they are the worst investor in fossil fuels in Europe. Runner up is HSBC, which has invested nearly £80 billion in fossil fuel projects since 2015.

“We are not trying to blame and shame, we’re just giving them the message: we are in a climate emergency and the only way that we can minimise the worst effects of global heating is by not investing in fossil fuels. Leave it in the ground.”

Dozens of Extinction Rebellion Lewes, Newhaven and Seaford members have joined the two-week protest that is currently taking place in London. They are calling on the UK government to stop all new fossil fuel investments immediately. The protests follow a dire report from the IPCC, which found that the last decade was hotter than any period in the last 125,000 years.

Dirk added: “We took this action today at Barclays because it’s visible. It’s not enough to join protests in London that then aren’t reported in the media. This kind of thing has to be done everywhere locally all over the country – that’s what’s going to make change happen.”

A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are aligning our entire financing portfolio to support the goals of the Paris Agreement - significantly scaling up green financing, directly investing in new green technologies and helping clients in key sectors change their business models to reduce their climate change impact.

“By 2025, we will reduce the emissions intensity of our power portfolio by 30 per cent, and reduce absolute emissions of our energy portfolio by 15 per cent. Increasing at pace, our capital markets business has already facilitated £46bn of green finance. We are one of the only banks globally investing our own capital – £175m – into innovative, green start-ups. By deploying finance in this way, we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and will become a net zero bank by 2050.”