Chris, protesting in Sheffield
Friday the 12th February was Fossil Free Friday. Climate justice activists around the country took action to defend the red lines of climate change, and targeted the power and influence of the fossil fuel industry. This day of action was another important moment in the growing global movement to eliminate the industry's social license to profit from climate change, and the human and ecological havoc it is wreaking. Friday was just the beginning of a global escalation in direct-action tactics against the perpetrators of the climate crisis.
Barclays bank was the target of many activists on the day, including my own group: Sheffield People & Planet. We were one of five groups to stage sit-ins at Barclays in our respective localities. To compound a tradition of support for apartheid wherever it appears, in South Africa and now Israel, Barclays has recently branched out into the apparently profitable business of climate co2onialism. They currently have sizeable investments in several fossil fuel companies including £1billion in Shell, through whom they finance dirty tar sands extraction in Canada. With more than £200 million in BHP Bilton and Anglo American, Barclay's fund the Cerrejón coal mine in La Gaujira, Colombia. Closer to home, Barclays wholly own the energy company, Third Energy, making them the first high street bank to invest in fracking.
