RBS challenge

Tomorrow is the annual general meeting of the Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS is 84 per cent– owned by the UK public, but continues to spend taxpayers' money in ways contrary to the public interest, such as investing in unethical companies that are doing extraordinary damage to the climate and to communities around the world. Examples include RBS' involvement in financing companies carrying out tar-sands extraction in Canada, which could tip us into runaway climate change, and its support

RBS has benefited from more than 45 billion of public money since it was bailed out by the government in 2008, and yet it still conducts its investments as though the people who have supported it – and who are affected by its investment decisions – don't matter.

We believe that everyone should have a say in how the bank is run. That is why at 6pm on the same day as the AGM we will be holding a public shareholder meeting at the Mercure Hotel in Edinburgh, to which all, including RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton, are invited. We are all shareholders in RBS, and the sooner the bank starts acting accordingly, the better.

Liz Murray, World Development Movement Scotland; Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Indigenous activist;

Jeni MacKay, Scottish Education and Action for Development; Richard Gauld, Orkney Sustainable Energy Ltd; Duncan McLaren, Friends of the Earth Scotland; Kevin Smith, Platform; Brant Olson, Rainforest Action Network; Clayton Thomas Muller, Indigenous Environmental Network; Ian Leggett, People & Planet; Simon Chambers, documentary maker