Hi <<First Name>>,
Yesterday we joined activists marching in the City of London to highlight the role of corporate culprits in driving climate change.
The Blood Money March was organised by Extinction Rebellion activists and supporters to shine a spotlight on how the global economic system, and the London institutions deeply embedded in it, fund fossil fuels and block climate action.
Big banks
One of the key stops on the march was outside Standard Chartered bank, which activists daubed in fake blood.
Standard Chartered is one of a wide range of big banks and financial corporations that hold sovereign debt from countries in the global south. These private creditors have refused to cancel debt during the pandemic, preventing the global south from investing in climate action.
Join us in calling on big banks to cancel debt to free up funds for the global south to invest in climate adaptation and mitigation.
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What’s more, Standard Chartered has been slow to shift finances away from fossil fuels and continues to direct resources into companies and projects that drive climate change.
It’s absolutely right that activists are drawing attention to how these corporations, and the City of London as a whole, are responsible for the root causes of climate change.
Corporate defenders
The march then went on to demonstrate outside two law firms, Debevoise & Plumpton and the Maples Group.
When it comes to acting in corporate interests, Debevoise & Plumpton is one of the top ten firms globally to represent private corporations in shady corporate court cases.
These court cases can be used by fossil fuel corporations to sue governments and block climate action. That's why we're organising a Corporate Courts vs The Climate day of action on Saturday 18 September.
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Debevoise and Plumpton are also currently defending Royal Dutch Shell in a case brought against them by Ogoni communities in Nigeria. The case revolves around Ogoni demands for compensation for oil spills in the Niger Delta, which Shell are refusing to pay.
Speakers on the march spoke eloquently about the struggle of Ogoni communities against distant corporate interests, as well as the need to recognise that Black Lives Matter and to demand climate justice for all.
Root of our problems
Whether it's financing fossil fuels, using trade rules to remove environmental protections, or demanding debt repayments that prevent the global south from investing in climate adaptation, these corporations and financial institutions are deeply embedded in the root cause of climate crisis - our global economic system.
As we told the Independent in response to the action: “Direct action is a legitimate nonviolent political tactic - and a modest response to the death and destruction fuelled by the City.”
In the run up to COP26, and beyond, we need to keep our actions focused on exposing these corporations and demanding reparations for the damage they have done.
Thank you for all of your support in helping us to do this.
In solidarity,
Daniel Willis
Climate campaigner, Global Justice Now
READ MORE
1. Extinction Rebellion stick coins outside the London Stock Exchange in 'bank tour' of London, LBC News, 27 August 2021
2. Big banks in Scotland must cancel Zambia’s debt, Global Justice Now, 12 August 2021
3. Nick Dearden: Corporate courts vs. the environment, Al Jazeera, 2 August 2021
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Powerful multinational corporations are continuing to fuel and profit from the climate crisis.
By coming together to challenge them, we can make a difference.
Regular gifts give us the long-term stability to plan effective campaigns, as well as the flexibility to react to key events.
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