Climate Activists Target HSBC HQ on Earth Day

Activists said the bank has invested some $80 billion in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group hit HSBC’s London headquarters in Canary Wharf in an Earth Day protest on Thursday, shattering 19 windows.

HSBC has pledged to shrink its carbon footprint to net-zero by 2050. However, the bank’s current climate plan still allows it to finance coal power, and provides no basis to turn away or cancel contracts based on links to the fossil fuel industry, the group said.

Extinction Rebellion, formed in 2018, describes itself as a «non-violent a direct action movement demanding a response to the climate and ecological emergency.»

The group protested at the London headquarters of Barclays two weeks ago, accusing the bank of «continued investments in activities that are directly contributing to the climate and ecological emergency.

Its Money Rebellion campaign also saw its members take part in civil disobedience outside multiple banks in New York, including J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, TD Bank and Citibank.