Wednesday

29th Nov 2023

Greta Thunberg leads pan-Europe COP26 climate protests

  • The wreckage from the 2021 floods was hauled from hard-hit Verviers in the east of Belgium to the European capital
Listen to article

The decrepit remains of what was once a family vehicle was dropped on the doorstep of Belgian Central Bank (BNB) on Friday (29 October), in a protest against the financing of fossil fuels in the era of a climate emergency.

The wrecked car, damaged in the 2021 floods, was hauled from hard-hit Verviers in the east of the country to the BNB and the EU capital to bring "the reality of climate change to its doorstep" - a symbolic harbinger of what is to come if financial centres do not stop financing such fuels.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • A car, crushed in the 2021 floods which are an increasing part of the climate emergency. Fossil-fuel cars are also a cause of the problem

Environmental and financial NGO's Positive Money and FairFin were behind the action in the EU capital. In Paris, activists protested French banks NP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole who invested billions in French oil company Total.

In Frankfurt, the ECB and Deutsche Bank were targeted, and in London Greta Thunberg founder of Fridays for Future protested in the financial district.

In total, 50 financial centres around the world were targeted on Friday, as part of concerted action to usher in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, also known as COP26.

That flood left 242 people dead. Losses, across multiple countries including Germany, amount up to €10bn. "People won't have heating this winter," one of the activists told EUobserver.

Climatologists have connected the extreme rainfall event that led to the floods with climate change.

If banks keep funding fossil fuels this problem will only get worse, the activists said.

Their demand was simple: stop fossil fuel funding.

Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world's 60 biggest banks have poured over €3 trillion into fossil fuels, with EU banks providing over €475bn.

'Banks finance two-thirds of economy'

High on the agenda of this years' climate conference is sustainable finance.

Global leaders have come to believe that the best way to tackle climate change is to get banks and investors to channel all that wealth into clean technology, renovating homes and other world-saving projects.

The problem, according to Stan Jourdan of Positive Money, is that not all these new technologies are attractive investments yet - "we need €200bn investments in housing annually."

This could be supported if central banks would fund banks with negative interests loans, making it more attractive for commercial banks to invest in such projects.

Banking rules and the financial system, in general, does not attract big crowds. They are complex and seem remote from everyday experience and the problem of climate change.

"But banks finance two-thirds of the economy," Stan Jourdan, says. Real-life action like the large scale renovation of homes in large part starts with changes in the arcane rules of banks.

Central banks especially are important. They are tasked with regulating commercial banks.

And while the European Central Bank (ECB) has shown some initiative in greening the EU financial sector, much of it is still in the research and planning phase.

In practice, central banks still back fossil fuels through their bond-buying schemes and lending operations.

Activists want central banks like the BNB and the ECB to start enforcing rules that make it less attractive for investors and commercial banks to invest billions in new fossil-fuel infrastructure.

EU banks play 'major role' in deforestation, report finds

Banks based in the EU have earned a reported €401m from deforestation, out of more than €30bn worth of deals with companies linked to logging. Deal-making was dominated by big banks from the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

European banks book €20bn a year in tax havens

The research estimates that a 25-percent minimum tax rate (the lowest current rate within the seven largest world economies) would net member states an extra €10-13bn a year in tax revenue.

Stakeholder

Dialogue and action – Nordic cooperation and view on COP26

Nordic countries launched several initiatives at the COP26 climate conference which will have a real impact on the ground. Nordic and UK pension funds are to invest billions in clean energy and climate initiatives. Greenland has joined the Paris Agreement.

Opinion

COP26 and the Congo rainforest - a 'Made in Europe' problem

After it was discovered that the Amazon no longer absorbs carbon, the Congo rainforest – soaking up some 1.2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – is arguably one of our last lines of defence against climate change.

Opinion

Will EU climate chief Hoekstra come clean before COP28?

As the new EU climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, heads to COP28, three senior MEPs question his ties to the fossil-fuel industry — and call for him to disclose all his ties while working for 11 years for McKinsey.

Latest News

  1. The EU's 'no added sugars' fruit-juice label sleight-of-hand
  2. EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
  3. Member states stall on EU ban on forced-labour products
  4. EU calls for increased fuel supplies into Gaza
  5. People-smuggling profits at historic high, EU concedes
  6. EU bets big on fossil hydrogen and carbon storage
  7. How centre-right conservatives capitulate to the far-right
  8. My experience trying to negotiate with Uber

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  2. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  4. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  5. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  2. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  4. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  5. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  6. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us