Frankfurt, Germany – On Monday and Tuesday climate activists will demand that the European Central Bank cuts its support for fossil fuel corporations like Shell and Total by sending an open letter to the Governors and staging a visual action at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt.
Who: Activists from Koala Kollektiv, a Frankfurt-based grassroots climate justice organisation have organised the open letter and are staging the action. The letter is co-signed by Fridays For Future, Licypriya Kangujam, Bill McKibben, George Monbiot, Michael E. Mann, Lisa Neubauer, Kate Raworth and many more. A spokesperson for the Koala Kollektiv said:
“Time is of the essence. We are racing toward humanitarian catastrophes. Yet instead of decisively turning the wheel, the European Central Bank is convening a team to report back in three years on whether to change course.”
What: A coalition of environmental organisations, youth activists, artists, scientists, and economists will send an open letter to Governors demanding the European Central Bank ends its support for fossil fuels, and then climate activists will stage a visually compelling action to demand that the bank support people not polluters. The action will involve a flame-thrower – perfect for photojournalists in the area.
When: The open letter will be launched on Monday 15th February at 6pm (all times CET). The action will take place on Tuesday 16th February around 4.30pm – photo and video content will be available from around 8pm.
Where: You will find the open letter here on Monday at 6pm. On Tuesday the action will take place outside the European Central Bank Headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. If you would like to attend the action at 4.30pm then please contact Hannah Fischer (phone: +49156-783 680 04, email: [email protected]). Photo and video will be available here from 8pm.
Why: The European Central Bank must ditch dirty bonds and set rules to ensure that Covid recovery finance doesn’t fuel the climate crisis and exacerbate global injustice. Europe’s central bank has set up a climate task force and promised to ‘explore every avenue’ to prevent climate breakdown but as things stand it will pour 5 trillion euros into the economy over the next two years with no conditions to prevent the world’s worst polluters accessing this finance. 38 fossil fuel companies have already benefited from the bank in this way, including Shell and Total who are responsible for some of the most destructive projects in Africa and Latin America – the bank is fully aware of this.
Notes to Editor
- Photo and video of the action at the European Central Bank HQ will be available from around 8pm CET on Tuesday, for immediate release. Photo and video content will be available here.
- The KoalaKollektiv is a Frankfurt-based climate justice group that was founded in January 2020. You can find out more here.
- More than 165,000 people have signed a petition demanding that the ECB stops supporting fossil fuels and puts people not polluters first. The petition was launched by 350.org, Reclaim Finance and SumOfUs.
- More than 24,000 people responded to a survey designed and conducted by Reclaim Finance, SumOfUs and 350.org on the basis of the ECB strategy review public consultation. Comparatively, EU consultations usually attract a low number of participants, often a hundred or so and rarely more than a thousand.
- Report on the ECB’s ongoing support to the fossil fuel industry from Reclaim Finance.
Media Contacts
(EN) Mark Raven, Europe Communications at 350.org, [email protected], +447841474125
(DE) Hannah Fischer, Activist with Koala Kollektiv, [email protected], +49156783680 04
(DE) Sebastian Bock, Germany Campaigner at 350.org, [email protected], +491738667167