Last Monday, April 22nd, representatives of frontline communities from Mexico, Brazil, Liberia, the United States and the Czech Republic, facilitated by BankTrack and ING Fossielvrij, demanded at the AGM of that the bank stop treating their territories as a sacrifice zone. Before the AGM started, representatives from affected communities held speeches outside the venue, telling their stories to Dutch activists, and chanting βWe are not your sacrifice zoneβ and βWe believe that we will winβ together. While Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) mobilised 120 volunteers to attend the AGM, Extinction Rebellion Netherlands blockaded the road entrance to the AGM venue shortly after the opening of the doors, preventing βregularβ (non-activist) shareholders from attending the meeting in person. Extinction Rebellion Netherlands blockades the entrances to the AGM venue. Photo: BankTrack As a result, nearly only climate activists were present in the in-person AGM, and almost all the questions asked were about community impacts, human rights violations, biodiversity impacts and the climate crisis. In a telling, although isolated, moment, the chairman of the meeting - Karl Guha - was booed for stating βwe can do without the narrativeβ in response to a personal testimony from a human rights defender from Mexico. ING under fire for fossil steel financing, CEO calls for an EU-wide phase out of coke ovens Frontline communities challenged finance for specific fossil steel clients of ING, like ArcelorMittal and Ternium. Eduardo Mosqueda of Tsikini Mexico, representing the family of a murdered Indigenous anti-mining activist, asked if ING would open an audit into its environmental and social credit facility with steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal. Ana Luisa Queiroz, of PACS Brazil, asked if ING would publicly commit to excluding future finance for the steel company Ternium, and if ING would provide remediation for communities harmed by Terniumβs operations in Rio de Janeiro. John N. Brownell, co-founder of Green Advocates Liberia, asked if ING would commit to not refinance its existing credit facilities with ArcelorMittal, unless the company provided compensation for communities impacted by its mining operations in Liberia. In an evasive response to all three questions, ING stated that it complies fully with international human rights law through its ESR policies. Following a recent report by Reclaim Finance revealing ING to be the third-largest financier of coal-based steel in Europe, Julia Hovenier, Banks and Steel campaigner from BankTrack asked ING if they would strengthen their new steel policy and exclude finance for CCS, and steel companies investing in coal-based expansion. In response, INGβs CEO, Steven van Rijkswijk deflected the bankβs responsibility by responding that the EU must adopt a sunset date for coking coal ovens in Europe, and called on activists to advocate for this at the EU level. βFor this I need your help. We need policies, and weβve made that clear to governments. Iβve also talked to the EU Commissioner in Brussels about this. We need to set standards for the phase out of coking coal ovens at the same time.β said Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING. Criticism for US LNG John Beard, from the Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN), challenged ING on the bankβs financing for LNG terminals in the US Gulf Coast, including one in his own town of Port Arthur, Texas. ING has directly financed seven LNG terminals in Texas and Louisiana. John explained that LNG terminals add to air and water pollution, causing severe health impacts like increased rates of cancer, and heart, lung and kidney diseases. Citing the disproportionate impact on people of colour and low income communities, he called out the bankβs environmentally racist lending. John also invited the board of ING and other staff to visit the communities in Louisiana and Texas affected by the LNG terminals to see the βsacrifice zonesβ first hand. In an inadequate response, the CEO referred to INGβs ESR framework and the bankβs due diligence process, and did not commit to visiting the LNG sites. Instead, he urged John to meet with the bank here in the Netherlands. John again took to the microphone to point out that there is already an overcapacity of gas exports to Europe, and INGβs finance for new terminals is not aligned with its net-zero commitments as it incentivises new fracking projects. John ended with: βYou canβt decarbonize by recarbonising.β Gas in Europe: EPH Radek Kubala, from Czech organisation Re-Set, asked whether ING would exclude EPH as a client and to close the gaps in their coal policy. Radek represented the StopEPH coalition - a coalition of communities impacted by EPH, a Czech company that revitalised several coal assets divested by other utilities. ING responded that they have already excluded project financing for coal power, completely evading Radekβs point on the need to adopt corporate-level exclusions. On whether ING would exclude EPH as a client, the CEO said: βWe do not necessarily exclude clients because they still finance (do) things we do not finance any moreβ, demonstrating the loophole in their policy. Following this year's AGM, BankTrack will continue to call on ING to act urgently and decisively on their human rights, nature, and climate impacts by facilitating engagement between the bank and frontline communities. Find the original press release here.
π£ Our Bank Annual General Meeting (AGM) Calendar is now up-to-date! Check out our calendar for banks' announced AGM dates, convocation and proxy documents, and all the information you need to join and make some noise! Updated every Monday. What is an AGM and why is it important? An Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a mandatory yearly gathering held by a company, typically following the end of its financial year. AGMs provide shareholders with voting rights and the opportunity to review the previous year's performance and discuss future plans. Consequently, they also serve as platforms for shareholder activism, enabling individuals and groups to advocate for better banking practices by engaging directly with banking executives and board members. Shareholders can utilise an array of strategies, including: π Submitting resolutions: Shareholders can propose resolutions that, if passed, legally bind banks to specific actions. βSubmitting questions: Shareholders can ask questions to the board, addressing issues such as environmental impact and corporate governance. β Engaging in protests and civil disobedience: Activists may organise protests or engage in civil disobedience to raise awareness of certain issues. This can include actions ranging from peaceful demonstrations in front of AGM venues to disruption of the AGM. https://www.fossilbanks.org/agm-calendar-2024
AGM Calendar 2024
https://www.fossilbanks.org/agm-calendar-2024
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great initiative
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Love the action. Let's move the money
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A vital role in driving positive change / ensuring corporate accountability
We're happy to announce that we have joined the We Donβt Have Time platform! π₯³ Who Are We? Fossil Banks No Thanks is a global platform dedicated to supporting Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), grassroots movements, and frontline communities in ending the financing provided by commercial banks to the fossil fuel industry. What do we offer to the community? - A platform for exploring other organisations targeting specific banks, so you can form alliances π - Information on fossil fuel financing from the 60 largest banks π€ - A toolbox to empower your campaigning and activism πͺ 𧑠Let's join forces to stop the finance flow into the fossil fuel industry! #FossilBanksNoThanks https://www.fossilbanks.org/
Banks are financing climate chaos
The Fossil Banks No Thanks platform brings together organisations and campaigns from all over the world pressuring banks to stop financing the fossil fuel industry.
https://www.fossilbanks.org/
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Good to see you joining us. Now we are sailing on the same boat that ensure the rights of our planet are not violated or jeopardize. Let's team up & bring hope to the world.
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Welcome and it's our pleasure to have you here! I am from Tanzania, I am looking forward to collaborating with you in impacting local and rural communities. I'll be reaching out to you soon
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Warmly welcome. We π what you do!
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I wanted to see what I can do to convince my bank to divest in fossil fuels right now, instead of hiding behind loopholes... Then I discovered this website which helps to find petitions and campaigns to join for several major banks. This is an amazing tool for me and I wanted to share it because I think they deserve some love for the platform they've built. https://www.fossilbanks.org/platform
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Thank you for sharing this invaluable resource. Fossil Banks is an absolute gem to hold financial institutions accountable for their role in funding fossil fuel projects.
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Great and important initiative
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A great platform to call out banks supporting fossil, this is commendable.
Write or agree to climate reviews to make businesses and world leaders act. Itβs easy and it works.
Certified accounts actively looking for your opinion on their climate impact.
One tree is planted for every climate review written to an organization that is Open for Climate Dialogueβ’.
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Indeed we believe together we can win against them and I support the call they should stop using the majority as their sacrifices.
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ING's commitment to "net-zero" is meaningless if they keep funding fossil fuels. They can't decarbonize by burning more gas!