Climate Campaigners target RBS

By ricjames, submitted on Mon, 15/10/2007 - 18:23

Students from Edinburgh University protested outside RBS branches in Edinburgh as part of Rising Tide's national day of action against RBS's funding of oil and gas extraction.

UPDATED 22:47 15/10/07

Edinburgh University Students, including many from the University's People & Planet society, stepped up their campaign against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) this morning. Alongside other People & Planet groups and campaigners from the Rising Tide, they took part in a national 'day of action' targeting the Edinburgh-based bank.

The protests aim to highlight RBS's role as one of the world's largest funders of climate-wrecking oil and gas extraction. Emissions resulting from RBS-supported projects around the globe are greater than those of the whole of Scotland.

At RBS's central branch in St. Andrew's Square, campaigners gave out information to customers, held banners, and waved oil covered hands. Elsewhere in the city, several branches had their doors glued shut and were covered in "oil" and posters declaring them "the climate change bank".

People & Planet recently worked with climate change experts Platform to write a report into RBS (2). The report draws attention to the bank's crucial role in supporting the global oil and gas extraction industry, where it publicly markets itself as 'the oil and gas bank'.

Sarah Holliday, a member of Edinburgh University People & Planet said:

"RBS call themselves 'the oil and gas bank'. They provide huge amounts of advice and funding for new oil extraction. Their fossil fuels projects worldwide will lock us in to emissions for decades to come – making a low carbon economy impossible. They are the UK's main financial drivers of climate change."

The campaign is a part of the People & Planet national campaign, "Ditch Dirty Development", which is also calling on the Department for International Development to stop using aid money to fund fossil fuel projects (3).

More photos can be found here.

1) People & Planet is the UK's largest student campaigning network. It campaigns on world poverty, human rights and the environment: www.peopleandplanet.org http://pandp.eusa.ed.ac.uk

2) The report, entitled 'The Oil and Gas Bank', can be found here

3)“Ditch Dirty Development” campaign website
“Oil Bank of Scotland” campaign website

Related

http://www.oyalbankofscotland.com

Comments

RBS branches and cash machines glued shut

By Anonymous, submitted on Mon, 15/10/2007 - 18:32

Also in Edinburgh: The locks of the main entrances to at least six Edinburgh RBS branches were glued shut last night, and all of them had to have the locks replaced today. Many RBS cash machines around the city were also glued shut. see http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/383714.html for more reports about the day of action against the Oil Bank.

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By Anonymous, submitted on Mon, 15/10/2007 - 19:44

I beleive in the cause, but the building in St Andrews Square is not owned by the RBS. It has been sold to a Russian businessman to develop into a hotel. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6654047.stm

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By one of the daves, submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 16/10/2007 - 23:16

who are these poor students,they look like they were just whisked up from the forest cafe and dumped infront of some media,fair play 2 the superglue pixies but what is all this yuppie media whoreing nonsense,if you guys(pictured)actually wanna change anything there is no point standing infront of a building(not blockading it) or symbolicaly getting your hands dirty!the point is get in there,break their stuff,cost the bastards money because thats all they give a toss about at the end of the day,and if your gonna stand about somewhere do it on top of a bulldozer thats about to rape another scrap of land or lay a pipeline.ect.

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By Someone With a Brain, submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 17/10/2007 - 10:38

Looking at the Rising Tide propaganda, I'm staggered about how mang 'facts' are wrong, and in several cases RBS could sue. Of course they won't because they be seen as the big bad corporation. Condoning vandalism of property is disgraceful. You may also be interested to note that RBS has been recognised for Environmental and Social Management - and been awarded the higest possible rating (AAA) by the Innovest Ratings Agency. Picked the wrong target there then - I don't suppose an apology and compensation will be forthcoming though! Why target a bank and not the office supplies provider, or the caterers, or the councils - or any other supplier. Grow up and get a job.....

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By Anonymous, submitted on Wed, 17/10/2007 - 11:02

Mainly in response to "the only rational person here", pumping money into new oil and gas projects is unnacceptable, the embedded carbon emmissions from RBS due to financing projects for BP, Total and Exxon etc. are locking us into ecological devastation. Great work on getting stuff done, I feel that this national day of action gave strength to each of the actions and will have raised some awareness about RBS as well as hopefully putting pressure on the company to address this issue. Of course most banks have dodgy investment and loan policies but RBS stand way behind the rest when it comes to embedded carbon emissions.

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By Anonymous, submitted on Wed, 17/10/2007 - 17:44

To the top poster: All banks these days acknowledge the concept of an ethical investment policy. They themselves politicize their own business. Therefore it is fair that RBS comes under attack, if, as the article says, it's true that they have invested in ventures that will create what is obviously a huge amount of pollution. And as for the "guy with a brain" talking about this industry standard acronym crap, it just reeks of greenwash and corporate bullshit (probably straight from an RBS-hired PR company or some sad RBS employee)

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By daveth, submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 20/10/2007 - 15:26

Lets all just sit back and smile at the banks as they rip us all off for hundreds of quid while we don't even notice it because theyre banks and theyre supposed to be safe what a load of nonsense. Destroy them, the evils perpetuated by the banks need to be exposed to the light of day. Get a job! Get a haircut! "You may also be interested to note that RBS has been recognised for Environmental and Social Management - and been awarded the higest possible rating (AAA) by the Innovest Ratings Agency" And who are Innovest? Apparently their client base represents more than $7 trillion dollars in assets. Sounds like another rich nonsense organisation giving RBS a pat on the back and hoping that the favour will be mutual.

to "Someone with a brain"

By CH, submitted on Mon, 22/10/2007 - 14:40

If there's false statements in the Rising Tide leaflets, tell us what they are. And I'd also like to know what Innovest's analysis has to do with anything, given that what they appear to rate is "political, environmental, labour, and human rights risks" associated with investments, rather than an organisation's practices. And they do this using "Proprietary, [i.e. Secret] ... risk algorithms"

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By Anonymous, submitted on Thu, 25/10/2007 - 08:55

Someone superglued the bank's locks? If someone resorts to childish actions don't expect to be treated like an adult.

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By orillasound.co.uk, submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 28/10/2007 - 02:51

im shocked but then banks are no less corrupt than most governments

What about, what about, what about...?

By CH, submitted on Sun, 28/10/2007 - 10:07

I love these kind of arguments: Each piece of paper handed out, comes from where? At the end of the day you should practice what you preach. …because obviously "stop funding destructive oil extraction projects" means "don't use paper". I'm disappointed none of the RBS lunchtime massive have gone for: "but you used money to pay for your bus fare and vegan sandwiches, so what are you complaining about?"

very droll

By CH, submitted on Sun, 25/11/2007 - 17:50

Love to see a source for this: "The Royal Bank of Scotland is widely acknowledged as the UK security services 'bank of choice' in the banking industry" & even if it's true, I like this too: I would have donated to Indymedia but unfortunately I am blocking RBoS accounts for Indymedia. …because how exactly would RBS have the details of someone paying in cash over the counter to an account? & finally: "I wonder how much money IM have saved by giving all their contributors details straight to the authorities. ….I'm so rich off of my admin expense account that I have to dial in via sat phone from Belize… I wonder how much people really believe the trolling bullshit they post here…

I thought you were boycotting this site?

By CH, submitted on Thu, 29/11/2007 - 11:38

Leave off the threats this time, eh? Don't care how veiled they are. (Assuming you're under the impression I'm from / have ever been to Forest of Doon) Thank you for the book recommendation. But you sound delusional: "you know it is true", don't presume to know what I think. "If you can't see an irony in calling for direct action against a bank your own collective uses then I probably can't explain it to you." If you can't see the difference between an open publishing newswire and a direct action group, then likewise. Indymedia didn't call any action, we just published the report submitted. Can't boycott the whole of society, mate. Fancy RBS turning out to be a nasty bank. As opposed to all the nice banks out there. If there's information about them you think people should know, use the "Publish an article" button and share it, rather than hinting at how wise and elite you are, compared with us poor mortals secretly in the pay of the state.

No, we don't log IPs

By CH, submitted on Thu, 29/11/2007 - 17:02

Tone of voice, preoccupations and the small number of posters on the site make it pretty good odds on being able to guess when certain posters are the same. There aren't that many people convinced that Indymedia is infiltrated by the state, or libcom.org, or whoever. You sound similar to the person who posted a number of disruptive comments on the "Granton Freak Show" thread. (http://scotland.indymedia.org/newswire/display/4518/index.php) If I guessed wrong, then I apologise. But I still think you're paranoid (but then I guess I *would* say that...) If you're worried about your browsing habits being of interest to the state, it's your ISP they'll go to first. If you read Cryptome I'm sure you already know about Tor (and its limitations). For suggested strategies to preserve your privacy in small interest groups, see the attached academic paper.

privacyandforums.pdf

Once more

By CH, submitted on Thu, 29/11/2007 - 20:45

Moderating the newswire means I read Every Single Comment. Most of what gets removed is spam. Some things stand out. For example: There's a schizophrenic from Boston who posts regularly, I recognise his posts from their titles now. People from Faslane Peace Camp post as Dave to take the piss out of each other. They're at it on this thread. Someone else (who turns out to be you) is convinced that IMC has been infiltrated by (variously) LibCom, MI5, MI6 and who knows what else. That same person jumps to wild conclusions on little evidence and doesn't display much self-awareness when this is pointed out. I read a lot. Give me a passage from two different authors I know, I'm confident I can tell which one's which. Most people can, given material they know well. Not that many people post comments on the site. I think once people start, they do it often. So the "pool" of contributors is much smaller than it should be. I didn't spot that the comments were posted from the same PC, I guessed that they were by the same author. I was even polite enough to point you towards something on the topic that you might find useful. and you respond, like you did on the other thread, with death threats.

Will the real state assett please stand up, please stand up!

By SWP LibCom Infiltratin' Mo' Fo', submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 30/11/2007 - 05:27

"I would like a meeting with IM Scotland to discuss this security leak. Failing that I will act as judge, jury and exectioner." Not fair why does he get proper death threats and I just get veiled hints of violence? I'm tellin' uncle Kropotkin on you!

No personal information leaked by me

By CH, submitted on Fri, 30/11/2007 - 11:24

It takes all of half an hour at FPC to realise that they're all calling each other Dave. Schizophrenics have delusions of grandeur, believe they're in touch with God, have access to secret knowledge, etc. But when they talk about it, no-one else gets the connections that they see clearly. They also mix it up with scatological stuff. "Apocalypse Culture" from Feral House had screeds of things written by P-Ss and it's amazing how similar to IMC nuisance posts they are. You don't need to be a psychiatrist and I am making no claims to remotely view the contents of that guy's mind. IMC Scotland admins do not have access to server logs. If we do, I don't know how to do it and have no interest in reading the server logs. On the other hand: not many people post here insinuations about IMC infiltration then resort to making threats when their bubble of certainty is questioned. Occam's Razor and a bit of self-awareness, please.

We DO NOT log IP's

By Makhno, submitted on Fri, 30/11/2007 - 18:00

This has really got out of hand! I am an editor also, and i would like to clarify some points. The DADA-MC software that we use DOES NOT log IP's, and they are also NOT STORED on the server in Greece. Interestingly, Indymedia Scotland is hosted in Greece, by anti-authoritarians, on a server on a university campus. The police are not legally allowed on the campus due to the role of students in overthrowing the military junta. So NO EDITORS or anyone else for that matter have access to the IPs of posters. It is something we dont log so that when people, like myself, do something political that the police would find interesting can post it on indymedia, and our privacy and security is safe.

and another thing

By Makhno, submitted on Fri, 30/11/2007 - 18:09

Please be polite and treat other peoples comments with respect, if you dont agree with them please reply in a constructive way. Complaints have been made about people being rude and offensive in the comments on this site, and it would be a real shame if people stopped using indymedia scotland because of them. for those people who are being 'flamed' in this way: there is a function of the comments which allows you to 'rate' other peoples posts up or down - if people are being aggressive rate their post down, if it goes below 0 then it is hidden. remember to vote your own post upward, since the default value is 0. click on the title of a comment to go to the page where you can rate it Editors will hide posts that are aggressive, racist, sexist, or contain death threats for example, since they violate the editorial policy of this site. the policy can be found here: http://scotland.indymedia.org/mod/info/display/policy/index.php here is the relevant part: "Also, please remember Indymedia Scotland hides and may delete: * Language or imagery which is racist, sexist, anti-semitic, bullying, mobbing or homophobic, or in any other way discriminatory and domineering. * Commercial advertising. * In-factual or misleading reports. * Repeated posting of any text, image or audio clip. * Party political propaganda. * 'Spam' includes 'tofu', spam relating to activism that is mass-posted. * Postings by individuals who have a pattern of behavior that leads to the above mentioned discouraged postings." if a comment is hidden, it has not disappeared entirely: they can be found here: http://scotland.indymedia.org/mod/comments/hidden/index.php

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By LibComWelshBoy Iz Infiltratin Ur Crustiez, submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/12/2007 - 04:11

Oh come off it Anonymous Poster I recognize your posts from here and other places on the web. It's the paranoid dementia and threats of violence that give you away. Regarding the Daves thing. You obviously haven't been to the peace camp in a long long time as they have been using the dave thing for years and it is a bit of a running joke, they even called a r pet rabbit dave ffs! Aren't you banned from the camp anyway? Though if you are it was probably due to an MI5 infiltrator turning everyone against you and nothing to do with the fact that you have lost the plot and refuse to admit that you may need some kind of help. CH has been polite as he possibly can to you despite the threatening manner of your posts. In fact I am impressed with how restrained he has been.

Re: Climate Campaigners target RBS

By Welshboy is working for MI% so he can afford to buy you all a pint, submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/12/2007 - 07:03

Um, I've not got access to the IM servers or anything and I recognized you, like I said above from your paranoid delusions, random accusations and threats of death/violence.