People & Planet vs. The Treasury
Treasury have allowed RBS to invest $10 billion of public money into fossil fuel projects and energy companies
Image © Philip Kirk
People & Planet, alongside World Development Movement (WDM) and Platform, are taking the Treasury to court. We are seeking a Judicial Review to stop the Royal Bank of Scotland pouring money into projects which are linked to climate change, environmental destruction and human rights violations. We believe the government has failed to do a proper assessment of the environmental, climate change and human rights impact of the way RBS-NatWest runs its business
Take action now
Email the Treasury and tell them to manage their 75% share ownership of RBS in favour of the solutions to climate change, instead of the causes of climate change.
Lobby your MP to sign EDM 880: RBS and Climate Change, calling for environmental regulation on the banks lending decisions.
More info: Press & Media or email us.
Main News Stories
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Edinburgh University Students Association ban RBS from advertising on campus
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Show the Age of Stupid and raise money for P&P
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Heavy-handed policing will not stop young people taking action to prevent climate catastrophe
The arrest of 114 people in Nottingham on Monday morning reveals a worrying trend in police tactics, whilst the real problem of climate change continues to loom large.
The G20 summit - what was the result?
The leaders of the world's richest countries met in London recently, but what did they achieve?
Students vote for a clean, green RBS
Today, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), People & Planet students in London and Edinburgh protested to expose the bank's investments in climate changing fossil fuels.
Are we living in the Age of Stupid?
A new film looking at the terrible impacts of climate change is in cinemas now: find out how your group can get involved
RBS-NatWest in the Stocks: Manchester P&P Slime Fred 'the shred' Goodwin
Manchester People & Planet placed a mock representative of former RBS-NatWest bank chief Fred Goodwin in some medieval stocks outside the RBS-NatWest regional headquarters in Manchester.
York P&P demonstrate at NatWest
On Saturday 1 March, students from York University People & Planet held a demonstration outside the NatWest bank in York to protest against the funding of fossil fuel projects.
People & Planet students call on RBS to end toxic loans: those that damage the climate
This morning People & Planet students, dressed as 'financial advisers', turned up outside the RBS-NatWest office on Bishopsgate to give RBS-NatWest some sound advice for investing in a more sustainable future.
Campaign Summary
Oil fire in the Niger Delta
Image © Stakeholder Democracy Network
In the UK, we are addicted to fossil fuels, the main cause of climate change. By working to reduce our own carbon footprint we can lessen the impact of climate change but until funding for fossil fuel extraction is switched to developing renewable energy this progress is constantly undermined.
Public and private investment in fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas, still massively outweighs investment in renewable energy. Loans to fossil fuel projects that run for decades will lock us into massive future emissions. To avoid a situation where devastating climate change becomes unstoppable, we must end our addiction to fossil fuels, end financial support for oil and gas extraction, and increase spending on renewable energy.
Campaign Strategy
The Ditch Dirty Development campaign aims to end financial support for fossil fuel extraction and exploration projects and massively increase support for renewable energy.
Financial support for fossil fuel extraction and exploration comes from both public and private sources, that’s why the campaign has two main targets, the Department for International Development (DFID) and The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Target 1: UK Government
DFID is the government body responsible for the UK’s international development aid. It is the link between the Government and international financial institutions which support fossil fuel extraction, like the World Bank.
There is a direct contradiction between government statements on the importance of tackling climate change, and their action in supporting fossil fuel development through the World Bank. The Ditch Dirty Development campaign aims to bring this dirty little secret out into the open and put pressure on DFID to act positively to tackle climate change.
Target 2: High Street Banks
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which owns NatWest, is the second largest bank in Europe and a hugely significant private funder of fossil fuel projects. Actively promoting themselves as the ‘Oil and Gas Bank’, they play a crucial role in making some of the most controversial oil and gas extraction projects a reality, from the Niger Delta to the Caucasus, from Angola to Qatar.
RBS refuse to acknowledge responsibility for the climate impacts of their lending to fossil fuel projects. As a major UK financial body RBS has influence within the sector, but by acting as a laggard when it comes to climate change there is a danger that they will hold back progress by other banks.
Solutions to climate change exist. Industrialised countries like the UK must drastically cut carbon emissions. This means ending our addiction to fossil fuels — which can’t be done without ending our support for the fossil fuel industry. Technologies which harness unlimited and non polluting renewable energy need far more support to be able to compete with and overtake fossil fuels. In the developing world, renewable energy could both provide access to energy for millions of people and help developing countries on the path to a low carbon economy.
If all the People & Planet groups in the country take action together we can put enough pressure on DFID and RBS to convince them to Ditch Dirty Development!