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Let's be friendsRBS-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.
Slime justice for RBS-NatWests fossil fuel investments
After Leila Deen threw green custard over Peter Mandelson for pushing though the 3rd Runway at Heathrow, it seems like slime justice might be catching on. Not only did greedy bankers like Fred Goodwin help to screw up the economy but their irresponsible risk taking goes beyond the stock market, they’re gambling with our climate too.
So people on their lunchbreak in Manchester were invited to get their own bank on Fred Goodwin. Passers by were leafletted and invited to throw green custard at a mock representative of Mr Goodwin for refusing to give up his £700,000 a year pension despite the financial crisis and irresponsible funding of climate damaging projects such as new coal fired power stations.
RBS-NatWest is responsible for $15.93 billion worth of loans from May 2006 to April 2008 to companies engaged in the extraction and/or combustion of coal. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel and if we don’t shift away to cleaner forms of energy production then chances of preventing irreversible climate change are slim. James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies, said of the UK government’s plans to build a new generation of coal fired power stations:
A terrible idea. One power plant with a lifetime of several decades will destroy the efforts of millions of citizens to reduce their emissions
In 2007 RBS-NatWest’s embedded emissions (emission due to its investments) was over 43 million tonnes, more than that of Scotland.
Take Action at RBS-NatWest’s AGM on 3 April
Previous actions against RBS by Manchester People & Planet include a flashmob against RBS-NatWest at a recruitment fair in October, an mock awardshow presenting RBS with the best greenwash award, and a rooftop Eviction demo.
Take action
Email RBS-NatWest CEO Stephen Hester and Government Ministers Ed Miliband and Alistair Darling to call for a transition to sustainable energy investments.
Take action at RBS-NatWest’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Edinburgh on 3 April 2009 and, as RBS-NatWest shareholders, demand the bank end their fossil fuel investments.
Lobby your MP to sign EDM 880: RBS and Climate Change.
Check out the Ditch Dirty Development action guide for loads more action ideas.
