The general meeting of shareholders of Barclays, which is held on Wednesday in London, has in turn been disrupted by environmental activists, after those of BP or TotalEnergies.
According to a statement from the NGO Fossil Free London, about thirty activists from several environmental associations have “infiltrated the AGM of the largest European financier of fossil fuels”, disrupting it on numerous occasions. Some of them declaimed verses generated by the artificial intelligence software ChatGPT denouncing the financing of hydrocarbons by the bank and inspired by Shakespeare.
According to images posted by several environmental groups on Twitter, such as Bank on our Future, protesters sang the Spice Girls song “Thank you very much” and changed the lyrics to read “stop right now, no more oil and gas. “Stop burning fossil fuels and end this madness” (“Stop Right Now, no more oil and gas. Stop burning fossil fuels and end this madness”).
The chairman of the British bank’s board of directors, Nigel Higgins, invited the protesters to “wait for the question and answer session to have a discussion.” He assured that the bank has reduced its financing of energy companies and cut its emissions from its energy financing portfolio by one-third in recent years.
To which a protester replied: “that’s bullshit”. Mr. Higgins said that “the world cannot function without fossil fuels” at this time. The GA was held in London in the Westminster district.
After BP on Thursday in London, where activists and shareholders also challenged executives on the climate, another European oil major, TotalEnergies, is preparing for a heated debate on the subject with some of its shareholders at its general meeting on May 26.
