Wellington from TV’s The Wombles and Newark and Sherwood Extinction Rebellion protest Barclays Bank's funding of fossil fuels
Wellington from TV’s The Wombles strode into Barclays Bank in Newark Market Place to demand the bank stops funding fossil fuels.
The womble entered the bank to the sound of the Wombling Song accompanied by members of Newark and Sherwood Extinction Rebellion.
As the music faded out, a letter was read which highlighted the bank’s record on funding fossil fuel exploration since the Paris Agreement of 2016.
A disappointed Wellington then delivered a giant card signed by shoppers and visitors, who had been in the market that morning, urging the bank to clean up its act.
Spokesman Carl Braithwaite said during the morning the activist group had engaged with shoppers and visitors to the market encouraging them to make an informed choice about where their money goes and switch to environmentally responsible banks. Members of the public were then invited to sign the card.
Simon Tilley, 57, said: “We were really pleased at the level of interest. Most people had no idea about the bank’s record and want to see urgent action on climate. To be honest the planet would be better off without Barclays at the moment — we’ve all seen what’s happening with extreme weather around the world and its terrifying.”
Mr Braithwaite, 53, said: “It’s our children’s futures that are at stake and banks that undermine that need calling out.”
Her said Barclays was the biggest funder of fossil fuels in the Europe and, in 2021, it invested more than £4bn in new oil and gas projects.
He said the war in Ukraine has shown that continuing to rely on oil and gas for energy is a danger not only to the environment, but also to the UK’s energy security.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said that British-generated renewable energy is cheaper and cleaner, and can protect UK customers from the instability of global markets.
A Barclays spokesman said: “We are aligning our entire financing portfolio to support the goals of the Paris Agreement — significantly scaling up green financing, directly investing in new green technologies and helping clients in key sectors change their business models to reduce their climate change impact.
“By 2025, we will reduce the emissions intensity of our power portfolio by 30%, and reduce absolute emissions of our energy portfolio by 15%. Increasing at pace, our capital markets business has already facilitated £46bn of green finance.
“We are one of the only banks globally investing our own capital — £175m — into innovative, green start-ups. By deploying finance in this way, we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and will become a net zero bank by 2050.”
