XR Protests in Glasgow

Dozens of climate activists have shut down a branch of Barclays in Glasgow’s city centre as part of a peaceful protest against the firm’s investments in fossil fuels.

More than 20 members of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) group demonstrated outside the building on Bothwell Street on Friday morning, displaying banners demanding the bank ‘clean up their act’.

A report from the Rainforest Action Network and financial activists BankTrack issued in May found Barclays was the world’s largest backer of fracking and coal energy firms, investing around $85 billion in fossil fuel businesses worldwide. 

In a statement, Extinction Rebellion Glasgow said: "Barclays is one of the largest providers to the fossil fuel industry in Europe. Unlike many UK banks, Barclays are willing to fund further tar sands exploration and arctic oil and gas exploration. These are some of the dirtiest investments around and they are a clear and present danger to our future." 

Hearing about and watching news of climate change on the media is something many of us simply do not want to do. The inevitable emphasis on destruction and likely catastrophe isn’t what we want to face in our day-to-day lives which is already tough enough. Hardly a day passes when there is not some sort of protest by eco-activists calling for the shut-down of a mine or pipe-line or power plant. Witnessing the abuse of the land environmental issues are becoming crucial issues for those seeking to change society to stop the poor from bearing the brunt of capitalism’s excesses. 

The destruction of the environment is intrinsically linked to the development of capitalism and the oppression of the poor. Profit is the exact point at which worker exploitation and environmental degradation intersect. Many inXR share a common enemy with ourselves, the capitalist class. Just as workers want better pay, so they also want better environmental conditions. Those first exposed to the health hazards of industrial production are workers and also exposed to the same in their communities. When was the last time you saw the rich living next to a fume-spewing chemical works?