Environment activists label bank in Balham as ethically unclean

People dressed like crime scene investigators in clean suits staged a mock investigation of Barclays Bank over its alleged “crimes against humanity and the planet”.

Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Wandsworth dressed in bio suits picketed Barclays Bank in Balham High Road on Monday to “declare it a crime scene”.

Chidi Oti-obihara, former banker and capital financial markets specialist, listed Barclays’ ecocide crimes and encouraged passing shoppers to look at XR’s claims.

They say Barclays was funded with profits from the slave trade, was one of the last banks supporting apartheid, and is now the biggest European investor in fossil fuels, contributing to global warming and large-scale devastation to the environment (ecocide).

They claim Barclays is one of the least ethical and most dangerous financial institutions in the UK. The Balham protest was part of Extinction Rebellion’s ongoing campaign to persuade Barclays to stop funding fossil fuels.

Extinction Rebellion launched the campaign – Sharklays.co.uk – on July 6 with a ‘crime scene’ action outside Barclays’ Canary Wharf headquarters. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness and to motivate investors to take their money out of Barclays and invest it in more ethical banks and financial activities.

A Barclays spokesman said: “We want to take a leading role in tackling climate change as we recognise that it is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today.

“Our ambition is to become a net zero bank by 2050, and we’ve made a firm commitment to align our entire financing portfolio to the goals of the Paris Agreement.

“That means our own operations, and the financing we do for our clients, in every sector, will support the transition towards a low-carbon economy.”