NUS joins boycott threat against RBS-Natwest
NUS have joined the campaign to get RBS-Natwest to cut their climate impact
nusonline.co.uk
Just before Christmas NUS National Treasurer, Dave Lewis, sent a letter to Sir Tom McKillop, Chairman of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS). NUS banks with NatWest, which is owned by RBS. In the letter Lewis demanded that RBS take responsibility for the embedded emissions resulting from their loans to oil and gas projects, or NUS would “…seek alternative, more ethical banking options”.
RBS-Natwest are specialists in providing funding and financial advice to oil and gas extraction projects around the world, including some of the most contraversial projects such as Sakhalin 2, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and the Alberta Tar Sands. In 2006 the embedded CO₂ emissions from RBS loans totalled 36.9 million tonnes, more than the whole of Scotland.
This news comes as a huge boost to the start of our campaign to get RBS-NatWest to:
Calculate and publish the embedded emissions resulting from loans to oil and gas projects
Cap embedded emissions and set annual targets for reductions
Commit to a complete transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy lending
Establish ‘no-go’ areas for lending; immediately halt loans to unconventional fossil fuels (eg coal bed methane and tar sands) which affect sensitive ecosystems such as rainforests.
It is important to point out that P&P is not calling for a boycott of RBS-NatWest at this stage. We are campaigning for RBS-NatWest to engage with the issue and move towards a genuine transition to financing renewable energy. If RBS-NatWest has not changed its position or made significant improvements by 2009, we will be prepared to call a boycott of RBS-NatWest.
Read the full letter on the NUS website.
Find out more about the Ditch Dirty Development campaign.