Seven Barclays branches across Scotland have been shut down by Greenpeace activists this morning as part of a UK-wide protest against the bank’s funding of fossil fuel projects.
The bank’s Edinburgh Princes Street branch was blocked for access by a Greenpeace pop up exhibition. In the early hours of the morning, Greenpeace activists also disabled the doors at Barclays branches in locations including Perth, Stirling, Dunfermline, Dundee, St Andrews and Kirkintilloch, preventing staff from entering.
Greenpeace is demanding Barclays, which it said was the biggest funder of fossil fuels among European banks, stop funding oil, gas and coal companies and instead channel support into renewable energy.
Morten Thaysen, climate finance campaigner at Greenpeace UK said: “Barclays must stop funding the climate emergency, that’s why we’ve taken action today. From floods to bushfires and record heat in Antarctica, the impacts of this crisis are staring us in the face. Yet Barclays keeps pumping billions into fossil fuel companies at exactly the time we need to stop backing these polluting businesses.”
