St Albans banks have been targeted for their contribution to the climate emergency by global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion
On Friday (November 20), staff arriving to open the St Albans branches of Barclays and HSBC found their windows emblazoned with an array of stickers and posters after Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists covered their windows overnight.
The messages left behind drew attention to the banks’ role in financing fossil fuels.
The action in St Albans was part of a coordinated XR campaign targeting HSBC and Barclays branches across the UK.
A spokesperson for St Albans XR said: “We can all see the first impacts of the climate emergency – fires in California and Australia, flooding and deadly heatwaves in Europe, catastrophic storms in the Caribbean – and it will get much worse.
“And yet Barclays and HSBC continue to provide billions of pounds to support new fossil fuel extraction projects. That is inexcusable.
“What is more, Barclays also finances oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, and tar sands extraction – the dirtiest and most damaging fossil fuel projects.
“We would encourage all St Albans residents that bank with HSBC or Barclays to challenge their bank to stop funding fossil fuels. And if they don’t, to move to an ethical alternative.
“If you don’t, you could be inadvertently financing the climate emergency.”
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