Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Aisling Bea: Stop Financing Fossil Fuel
h/t Auto; Jetset celebrities Stephen Fry, Emma Thomson and Aisling Bea have demanded banks stop financing production of jet fuel? Maybe they haven’t thought it through.
Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Aisling Bea: Stop Financing Fossil Fuel
Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Auto; Jetset celebrities Stephen Fry, Emma Thomson and Aisling Bea have demanded banks stop financing production of jet fuel? Maybe they haven’t thought it through.
Emma Thompson and Aisling Bea urge UK banks to stop financing fossil fuels
By Beth Timmin
Business reporter, BBC News
Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Aisling Bea are among celebrities calling on the five of the UK’s biggest High Street banks to stop financing new oil, gas and coal projects.
It follows criticism that HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds are funding “fossil fuel expansion” despite making green pledges.
Businesses and charities like Greenpeace also back the campaign.
HSBC and Barclays said they were helping their clients to cut emissions.
The Make My Money Matter campaign points to research by environmental charity Rainforest Action Network, which claims that between 2016 and 2021, HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds funnelled almost $368bn (£298bn) towards the fossil fuel industry.
It added that in the same time period, the lenders financed the 50 companies making the biggest investments in oil and gas projects to the tune of $141bn.
It added that while HSBC and LLoyds had made “welcome new announcements” on stopping direct finance for new fossil fuel expansion since then, “there is a long way to go”.
“HSBC was this month found to have provided $340m to a company opening a new coal mine in Germany,” it said.
…
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64399747
The open letter from “Make My Money Matter”; The letter and website were created using the products of fossil fuel (computers), and the website stays up because of electricity provided by fossil fuel.
Dear CEOs of HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds:
We are writing to you as concerned customers and citizens. In 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that there should be no investment in new oil, gas and coal if we want to limit global temperature rise and avoid climate catastrophe.
However, the UK’s Big 5 high street banks funneled $141 billion to the 50 companies at the forefront of oil and gas expansion between 2016 and 2021.
This action is jeopardising our futures.
We want you to ensure that your banks stop financing fossil fuel expansion. Here are the steps you need to take:
Stop directly financing fossil fuel expansion activity.
Put clients on notice that they must stop expansion activity or face the financing consequences.
End relationships if clients do not stop fossil fuel expansion.
Lloyds has made a start by ending direct financing to new oil, gas, and coal projects; but all 5 of you must ensure you take climate action by following the three steps above, otherwise we will find a new bank.
Do you think we’ll stand for you financing climate catastrophe? Don’t bank on it.
Signed,
Source: https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/openletter/
In my opinion Emma Thompson is one of the most egregious celebrity climate hypocrites on the planet. In 2019 Emma Thompson flew 5400 miles to participate in an Extinction Rebellion anti-flying protest.
Police told to use ‘full force’ of law against Heathrow climate change protesters
Heathrow is “working with the authorities” to address any protests which could “disrupt the airport”.
By Ceren Senkul, news reporter
Friday 19 April 2019 07:06, UK
Police have been given the green light by the home secretary to use the “full force of the law” against climate change protesters who are planning to disrupt Heathrow airport.
Extinction Rebellion has been holding demonstrations over several days in key parts of London in order to get the government to take action on the “unprecedented global emergency”.
…
Actress Emma Thompson joined the protests in London after taking a 5,400-mile flightfrom Los Angeles in the US.
She said: “I absolutely wanted to be arrested on my 60th birthday but I didn’t quite manage that.
“I’m so proud and thrilled to be part of Extinction Rebellion.”
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In response to accusations of celebrity hypocrisy, Extinction Rebellion explained the problem is people like Emma Thompson are forced to use fossil fuel, because they are stuck in the system.
Dear journalists who have called us hypocrites,
You’re right.
We live high carbon lives and the industries that we are part of have huge carbon footprints. Like you – and everyone else – we are stuck in this fossil-fuel economy and without systemic change, our lifestyles will keep on causing climate and ecological harm.
There is, however, a more urgent story that our profiles and platforms can draw attention to.
Life on earth is dying. We are living in the midst of the 6th mass extinction. For those who still doubt the severity of our situation, here is the International Monetary Fund on 10th October 2019 :
“Global warming causes major damage to the global economy and the natural world and engenders risks of catastrophic and irreversible outcomes”
And here is Sir David Attenborough on 3rd December 2018 :
“Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”
Climate change is happening faster and more furiously than was predicted; millions of people are suffering, leaving their homes and arriving on our borders as refugees.
Alongside these people who are already paying the price for our fossil fuelled economy, there are millions of children – called to action by Greta Thunberg – who are begging us, the people with power and influence, to stand up and fight for their already devastated future.
We cannot ignore their call. Even if by answering them we put ourselves in your firing line.
The stories that you write calling us climate hypocrites will not silence us.
The media exists to tell the public the truth. Right now there has never been a more urgent need for you to educate yourselves on the CEE (Climate and Ecological Emergency) and to use your voices to reach new audiences with the truth.
We invite all people with platforms and profiles to join us and move beyond fear, to use your voices fearlessly to amplify the real story.
Thousands of ordinary people are risking their freedom by taking part in non-violent civil disobedience. We’ve been inspired by their courage to speak out and join them. We beg you to do the same.
With love,
… lots of signatures …
What protestors like Extinction Rebellion and celebrity hypocrites are really saying is it is acceptable to be a climate hypocrite, so long as you agitate for change. They are all waiting for you lazy engineering types to get off your butts, and find a way for celebrities to live their high energy lifestyles without mining or fossil fuel or anything else which offends green sensibilities.
What can I say? When you lazy engineers do your jobs, when the world runs on magic, green heroes like Emma Thompson won’t need an airplane to fly.
Fun facts, great article. More fun to complement::
https://tucoschild.substack.com/p/chinas-coal-fired-ev-battery-plants