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Climate campers target the bankers
News Articles | Morning Star | Will Stone | August 19, 2010
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More than 200 climate activists are laying siege to the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh in protest against the bank’s oil investments.
A hundred campaigners from Camp for Climate Action broke through protective fencing to swoop on the grounds of the bank’s headquarters in Gogarburn at 9.15pm on Wednesday – a day earlier than planned – to dodge authorities keen to stop the protest camp setting up.
Campaigners, who were joined by 100 more on Thursday, targeted the Royal Bank of Scotland over its investment in the oil industry, which is financing environmentally damaging projects such as the Canadian tar sands and Enbridge pipeline.
The location of the site was announced through mass text messaging that campers subscribed to as part of the planned swoop.
They said the camp had been set up at the site in preparation for a day of action against RBS next Monday, which could include attacks on Edinburgh Festival events sponsored by the bank, coal and oil industry sites across Scotland as well as direct action on the bank’s headquarters itself.
The 200 activists have pitched up in the grass area outside the bank’s headquarters and are expecting to be joined by 600 more over the weekend as marquees, workshops, eco-toilets and kitchens are being set up.
Climate Camp spokesman Richard Bernard said: “The progress has been phenomenal with more and more protesters joining by the hour.
“We have learnt from previous years that the police will try to do anything in their power to stop us, which is why we decided to set up camp on Wednesday night.”
He added that police arrested two campaigners and detained one, but all have since been released back to the camp without charge.
One of the climate campers Ruth McTernan said: “It’s been a dramatic start to what’s going to be a week full of workshops, sustainable living and direct action against RBS’s crimes against the climate.
“We’re in a beautiful location here at Gogarburn, surrounded by the woods.
“People should come down, have a cup of tea and check out what’s going on for themselves.”
RBS was one of the heaviest investors in fossil fuel developments around the world up until its collapse in 2008, including financing loans to oil firms involved in Canadian tar sands operations and the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline in British Colombia.
Jasmine Thomas and Riannon Ball, from Canada’s Indigenous Environmental Network campaign group, will also join the camp over the next week to speak out against tar sands developments and the pipeline that risks pushing climate change over the edge.
A spokesman for RBS said: “While we understand the protesters’ intent and publicity tactic we clearly cannot agree with their decision to target RBS.
“We have offered to meet with the leaders of the protest and, although they have not accepted, this offer still stands. Our top priority is securing the safety of our staff and customers and we urge the protesters to make their point peacefully.”
Tagged with: climate change, enbridge, protest, royal bank of scotland, edinburgh, investments
