Vancouver protesters gather against RBC’s fossil-fuel funding

Demonstrators gathered across over 35 locations in Canada to protest against the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for funding fossil fuel projects Saturday afternoon.

The protests, part of a nationwide effort dubbed Fossil Fools Day, took place in cities including Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Vancouver.

In Vancouver, demonstrators gathered at the RBC on Georgia and Burrard Street. Marcus Peterson from Fossil Fools protest, says they’re hoping RBC listens and make changes at their annual general meeting happening on Wednesday, April 5.

“Our purpose is to pressure RBC to divest their investments in fossil fuel funding to acknowledge the role that they’ve played in violating indigenous sovereignty rights, particularly with their funding of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through with Wet’suwet’en territory, and to encourage them to implement a free prior and informed consent policy when it comes to all future investments.”

RBC has outlined plans to reduce its financed emissions by 2030 with an end goal of net zero by 2050. But critics say its targets fall far short of what’s needed, accusing the bank of “greenwashing” last fall when it announced its targets for this decade. The bank, for its part, has long stressed the importance of an orderly transition to net-zero.

The bank’s spokesperson Jeff Lanthier says the company is focusing its attention on where it will have the biggest impact, which is helping clients reduce their emissions and supporting initiatives that bring green solutions to market.

“We are committed to achieving net-zero in our lending by 2050 and have established interim emissions reduction targets that will help us drive action and measure progress,” he said in an email. “These targets are informed by science and reflect a measured and deliberate approach to climate action.”

The bank has also faced criticism from Indigenous leaders including from the Wet’suwet’en, who have criticized the bank’s climate record and its funding of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline.

Fossil Fools protesters hope that the bank opens its doors to hereditary chiefs from First Nations groups.

“They’ve refused to meet with them in the past, particularly at the last AGM, we’re hoping that they will open a dialog with the hereditary chiefs and how they can rebuild their relationship moving forward,” Peterson said.

Peterson says one of the biggest problems with fossil fuel projects that are being funded by institutions like RBC is that it “maintains the status quo.” He notes that government inaction also contributes to the problem.

“You know, we’ve tried to go through the court systems, we’ve tried to plead with our legislative bodies to enact policies that live up to our global commitments to reducing our carbon emissions, nothing is happening, nothing is working.”

“We’re trying every avenue every opportunity to try to convince those with the power, the legislative power, the financial power to make a change that will save us from an uninhabitable future for future generations.”

-With files from Michael Williams