Banks| Policies| Dodgy Deals| Campaigns
About us| Blog| Publications| Successes| Contact us| Donate
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2023-01-23 00:00:00
Berta Cáceres: new rules for banks could help stop defender killings
2023-01-16 00:00:00
In the balance: Why European due diligence legislation must cover financial services
2022-12-08 00:00:00
Exposed: Western banks funding Qatar’s carbon bombs
2022-12-08 00:00:00
Right-wing attack on sustainable finance is the latest form of climate denial
2022-12-14 11:08:26
HSBC announces it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields
2022-10-13 15:56:39
More major banks and insurers refuse to support EACOP
2022-09-16 10:38:48
European Parliament passes emergency resolution against human rights violations & environmental threats linked to EACOP
2022-06-27 09:49:16
Crédit Agricole takes first step to phase out from the oil and gas sector
Connect
2022-11-22 00:00:00
Banking on Thin Ice: Two years in the heat
2022-11-17 00:00:00
BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark 2022
2022-10-21 00:00:00
Burning forests in the name of clean energy? How banks are failing to exclude the harmful wood biomass industry from finance
2022-06-28 00:00:00
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP): Finance Risk Update No. 3
2022-04-05 00:00:00
The BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark Asia
2022-03-30 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2022
See all publications
Browse
Home
Banks
Policies
Dodgy Deals
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook
Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Instagram
Affiliate Websites
Fossil Banks No Thanks
StopEACOP
Forests & Finance
Banks & Biodiversity
Drop JBS
Bank of Coal
Don't Buy into Occupation
Home › News
RBS finance for tar sands revealed on eve of AGM – students protest
Start
Banks

By: Platform
2012-05-30
London

Contact:

For UK contact: Mel Evans, Platform, 02074033738 / 07790430620 mel@platformlondon.org

For North America contact: Clayton Thomas-Muller, IEN Tar Sands Campaign Director, ienoil@igc.org, +1 613 297 7515


Share this page:

Go to:
Start
Related Banks

Platform , UK Tar Sands Network and the Indigenous Environmental Network have revealed that in the past year the Royal Bank of Scotland underwrote bonds worth $131.25 million for controversial Canadian tar sands pipeline company Enbridge Energy Partners . At the RBS AGM tomorrow in Edinburgh student groups are planning to protest the banks fossil fuel investments.

Enbridge Energy Partners is  the subject of intense controversy in Canada as their proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline would run through the  traditional territories of over 60 First Nations . These include the Yinka Dene Alliance  who just this month protested against Enbridge in several Canadian provinces as part of a ‘Freedom Train’. The combined lands of the Yinka Dene Alliance represent more than a quarter of the proposed Enbridge oil tanker and pipeline route, and their opposition to the pipeline is being supported by Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), an alliance of indigenous groups across North America.

This revelation of finance deals comes on the eve of the RBS AGM at their HQ in Gogarburn on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Oil campaigners Platform say at last year’s AGM RBS promised a finance policy on fossil fuels that might have restricted funds for harmful projects such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline, but that since these claims no policy changes have been made.

The tar sands in Canada have been vehemently opposed in the UK by groups including UK Tar Sands Network, because many First Nations groups are against it and the process of making sythentic crude is much more polluting than conventional oil.

Clayton Thomas-Muller from IEN says:

“RBS continues to operate in a way that creates harm for profit. By not requiring their clients to prove that they have the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of local Indigenous communities affected by their operations, RBS is not respecting international law, and making itself vulnerable to the effects of legal challenges and project delays.”

Mel Evans from Platform challenges:

"RBS has promised policy changes that simply have not arrived – it's now over a year since we were told we would soon see policy changes on finance for fossil fuels. The bank that is 83% publicly owned pays lip-service to improving its standards, but seems only to care for attempting to improve its image."

Emily Coats from UKTSN comments:

“Behind its slick PR, RBS continues to finance companies setting up disastrous projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, which is trampling on Indigenous Rights, opening up new markets for tar sands, and further entrenching our reliance on fossil fuels. The Canadian tar sands alone could lock us into unstoppable climate change – we need to phase the industry out as soon as possible, not recklessly expand it.”

Natascha Deininger, protester from student group People & Planet says:

“RBS is 83% owned by the public. We deserve better than the dirty deals RBS is making with our money.”

Notes to Editors:

 www.platformlondon.org

 www.no-tar-sands.org

 www.ienearth.org

Source: Bloomberg, full data available on request

The proposed Enbridge pipeline will run from the tar sands in Alberta to the west coast of British Columbia.

‘Tough questions for Enbridge’, Common Sense Canadian, http://thecanadian.org/item/1472-tough-questions-enbridge-alleged-support-first-nations-yinka-dene-nei-investments-damien-gillis

 www.yinkadene.ca

 http://freedomtrain2012.com/schedule-events

Go to:
Start
Related Banks

Related banks

NatWest Group United Kingdom

active
Browse
Home
Banks
Policies
Dodgy Deals
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook
Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Instagram
Affiliate Websites
Fossil Banks No Thanks
StopEACOP
Forests & Finance
Banks & Biodiversity
Drop JBS
Bank of Coal
Don't Buy into Occupation
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
©2016 BankTrack                Webdesign by BankTrack and EASYmind
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted