It’s time to break up with Barclays

February 14th. St Valentine’s Day. A day to think about those who are very special to us. But it can also remind us of toxic relationships: those relationships that sometimes need an intervention to stop the toxicity and allow people to break free. Today, ordinary people from Tyneside Extinction Rebellion converged on Barclays Bank on Northumberland Street, to remind their customers that they would be better without Barclays!

Barclays Bank is the largest investor in fossil fuels in Europe. Barclays is the 7th biggest funder of fossil fuels worldwide and has given US$ 166.741 billion to companies active across the fossil fuel life cycle in the period from 2016-2021. That’s US$91 million per day. Imagine what our country would be like if that had been invested in a more sustainable future for us all(1).

Andy, a local Extinction Rebellion supporter, added “Customers are unaware of these facts and we want them to know, so they can make their own choice about who they bank with. And it’s not just individuals – Gateshead Council and the National Trust for example have business accounts with Barclays that mean that money held on behalf of people like you and me is with Barclays. Surely  these organisations would be better off without Barclays – I know the planet would be.”

The campaign was also taken online to encourage big corporate customers to break up with Barclays today. Twitter and Facebook posts targeted the following organisations who all Bank with Barclays.

Scouts

Islamic Relief

Guide Dogs

Barnardos

Christian Aid

World Vision UK

Tear Fund

The National Trust

British Heart Foundation

(1)   Bank on Chaos Report 2022 – https://www.ran.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD-1.pdf