Climate change activists target BlackRock today amid the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ movement in London.

Climate change activists took on the world’s biggest financial institutions today, specifically BlackRock and the Bank of England, in London. They demanded the cessation of funding of a looming environmental crisis.

Climate change activists put BlackRock in the dock

The two-week climate change disobedience movement by Extinction Rebellion (XR) spilled over today into London’s financial district. It blocked traffic and streets around the Bank of England and BlackRock.

Some XR climate change activists even glued themselves to the doors of Blackrock.

“The City of London is a preeminent nexus of power in the global system that is killing our world,” said Carolina Rosa, spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.

In an open communication to BlackRock posted on the XR website, titled “You Can’t Eat Money – Protest at BlackRock’s UK HQ, City of London,” the organization said:

• Wake up and smell your role in funding the burning of the Amazon and wildfires in the Arctic.
• Stop investing immediately in the worst companies driving global deforestation.
• Divest from fossil fuel stocks over the next five years and invest in renewable energy instead.

-October 14, 2019, by Extinction Rebellion

XR said it was targeting BlackRock because it was the world’s biggest backer of climate and rainforest destruction. Further, it alleged the asset manager was the #1 investor in fossil fuels, including coal, and in the companies driving deforestation around the world.

“XR calls on BlackRock to disinvest from these sectors now and back renewables,” the letter exhorted.

[Related Story: Did BlackRock Lose $90 Billion of Client Money on Fossil Fuels]

Dinner outside BlackRock offices: Can’t eat money!

Other climate change activists staged a mock sit-down dinner outside BlackRock with paper money rolled up and placed on their plates. Meanwhile, a placard on a bystander says:

When the last tree is dead the last fish caught and the last river poisoned you will realise that you cannot eat money.

[Related Story: BlackRock Faces New Criticism Over Fossil Fuels]

Index Funds: Toothless clout

A Reuters analysis exposed this month that index fund firms such as BlackRock now control half the U.S. stock mutual fund market. However, they rarely use this muscle to influence the investee companies in favor of responsible climate actions.

Meanwhile, Emily Grossman, an XR protester, and a British science broadcaster pointed to the role of the financial sector in funding fossil fuel projects.

“This is criminal damage that they are doing to our lives and the lives of our children, and it has to stop,” she said.

(Images courtesy of Extinction Rebellion)