Sharon Condry: 'RBS's history of financing fossil fuel energy justifies focus of action'

Published on Sunday 22 August 2010 15:26

Research has consistently shown that RBS is the UK bank most heavily involved in financing dirty fossil fuel companies around the world.

The expansion of this carbon-intensive infrastructure is not only dragging us all to the brink of climate catastrophe, it often also involves water sources being poisoned, the destruction of forests, and trampling on the rights of local communities.

RBS likes to trumpet its supposed green credentials, but recent research suggests that their support for the renewable energy sector represents less than 1 per cent of the money that RBS has raised for the energy sector since being bailed out by the UK public in 2008.

The other 99 per cent is accounted for by fossil fuels and associated services. This is a bank that only a few years ago proudly hosted a website called "www.theoilandgasbank.com" and is clearly committed to providing specialist financial support and services to the sector.

Financing all this coal and oil may provide the profits necessary to boost RBS executive bonuses, but the rest of us will pay a terrible price if we fail to prevent the worst effects of climate change from taking place.

People have come from all over the country to take action against RBS because they are angry that we are all facing savage cuts as a result of RBS' financial irresponsibility, and furious that the climate is being trashed as a result of RBS's environmental recklessness.

• Sharon Condry is a Camp for Climate Action participant.