In a protest dubbed as an ‘act of care’, activists from the environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion (XR) smashed windows at the HSBC headquarters in Canary Wharf.
The campaigners, nine women from XR and the political party Burning Pink broke the windows using hammers and chisels.
The activists wore patches with the words ‘better broken windows than broken promises’, channelling the spirit of Suffragettes acts of civil disobedience.
They also placed stickers on the windows of the bank reading ‘£80 billion into fossil fuels in the last 5 years’.
In a statement, the group said: “Despite HSBC’s pledge to shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050, their current climate plan still allows the bank to finance coal power, and provides no basis to turn away clients or cancel contracts based on links to the fossil fuel industry.”
An HSBC spokesperson said: “Constructive engagement on climate change is critical as we work to deliver the Paris Agreement goals. We welcome meaningful dialogue on our climate strategy, however, we cannot condone vandalism or actions that put people and property at risk.
“We have an ambition to be net zero by 2030 and to bring our financed emissions to net zero by 2050.
“We have also committed to set out short and medium-term transition targets, and to phase out the financing of coal-fired power and thermal coal mining by 2040 globally. We remain committed to supporting our customers in their transition to net zero.”
