XRI Holds Fossil Fuel Funders to Account

On 9th May 2024, a group of XRI activists met in St Stephen’s Green. Our target was the nearby Mansion House, official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin. There the annual members’ dinner of the Irish Funds Industry Association was being held, in the historic Round Room that was built to receive King George IV in 1821.

The Irish Funds Industry Association counts among its members Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street, considered to be the Big Three index fund managers which play a dominant role in corporate America. Together they account for $661 billion of fossil fuel investments. The association also includes JP Morgan Chase and Citi Bank, banks which are among the so-called “Dirty Dozen” - the 12 banks which dominate the financing of fossil fuels. The association boasts direct links to policy makers and regulators, and a close working relationship with the Central Bank of Ireland and all relevant Irish government departments.  It’s ironic that the Round Room is where the First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence. 

It was a warm sunny evening in the Green, and the big old trees were at their leafy best. We sat on the grass chatting, while readying ourselves for what might lie ahead. Suddenly it was time to set off for our target. 

The Mansion House is in Dawson Street which runs parallel to Dublin’s famous Grafton Street. It is itself a busy thoroughfare on a Thursday evening with its popular shops and restaurants.  We spread ourselves along the pavement in front of the building and unfurled our XR flags and banners. There is no doubt we attracted a lot of attention from the passers-by.  Eyes lit up when they saw they were witnessing Extinction Rebellion in action. Our impact was further bolstered by the arrival of the Garda Public Order Unit, who poured out of the back of a van wearing stab vests. They needn’t have worried, but the optics were impressive, and having them there was very reassuring for us; after all we’re the ones who were sticking our necks out, standing up against the rich and powerful for the benefit of all.

Meanwhile, two of our brave activists had glued themselves to the main gate and to each other, effectively blocking access. Another two had glued themselves to another two  entrances. All four sported signs listing a different asset management company in the Irish Funds Industry Association and the amount that company has invested in fossil fuel development.The guests in their glamour and finery were obliged to turn and walk along the line of banners demanding they stop funding climate chaos, and use a back entrance down an alley. Some guests gave us a blank smile, others averted their gaze, but there was no ignoring our enthusiastic drumming and chanting. We were pointing the finger at the greedy companies they represent.

By now the protest was in full swing. With the help of a megaphone, we called out to the funders of fossil fuels the damage they are doing. Some passers-by signalled their appreciation. We proudly struck up in a rousing cry of defiance, “Power to the People”. The percussion section played no small part in pounding out our message, leaving all in no doubt that it was the dinner-goers who were out of step.

Holding such a protest can be daunting and unpredictable, but together we did it. Our action not only succeeded in raising awareness; it also strengthened and united us.

by C. O’Reilly

Photo by K Handy

Photo by K Handy

Photo by JJ Perez

Main entrance to the Round Room with two the glued-on activists and security guard
Photo by K Handy

J.P. Morgan! There are no ‘Women in Tech’ on a dead planet

On the evening of 23rd March, I was among the XRI rebels who disrupted J.P. Morgan Dublin’s “Women in Technology” networking event to draw attention to the harm the company is doing by financing fossil fuel companies. It’s the worst of the big banks dubbed the “dirty dozen” in the 2022 Banking on Climate Chaos report. We also wanted to highlight the irony of their attempt to recruit women in particular, given the outsized harm that climate change does to women around the globe.

We seated ourselves dotted among the audience of about 70 people - a mix of potential recruits and employees. Just a few minutes into the opening remarks of one of four panellists on-stage, our first disrupter in the “audience” stood up declaring “There are no women in tech on a dead planet” and laying out a few of the facts about J.P. Morgan and their funding of climate chaos. She was immediately followed by another disrupter and so on until five of us had spoken  - each beginning with the same slogan and following that with our own variation on the theme. It  culminated with a call to action for those considering working for J.P. Morgan to reconsider and for those working there to demand that their employer divests from all fossil fuels. 

It was only when the fourth and fifth (final) speakers stood up that the organisers seemed to truly get a grip on what was happening before their eyes. One or two of them then went into containment mode - trying to get us to quiet down. Another was overheard calling the guards. When the last of us had stood up and spoken, we made our way with our Extinction Rebellion flags to just in front of the stage, chanting “J.P. Morgan pick a side, divest now, or ecocide”. 

At this point, the organisers called on the “audience” to relocate to a different room and they and the panellists started filing out. A few J.P. Morgan staff stayed behind with us. Staff member Emma Mangan, Head of CIB Merchant & Card European Head of Technology engaged with us. She suggested we fight for change by buying shares in the company and becoming shareholder activists. We responded by asking her to quit J.P. Morgan and put her expertise to good use by helping us fight their continued investment in fossil fuel companies. 

Panellist and Executive Director, Keith Staunton also stayed behind but did not engage, except to deny that he was the Executive Director when asked by one of the activists - after which she pointed out that it stated clearly on the projector slide that he was in fact! We activists exited the room and the building peacefully shortly thereafter. 

We went for drinks afterwards to celebrate the success of our action and to wind down together and share our individual experiences of the evening. One participant shared that some attendees seated in front of her were nervously giggling while the disruption was underway, until one of the disruptors spoke of the “sexual violence” that women suffer as one of the consequences of the displacement of people as climate refugees. Another participant had overheard two of the panellists as they filed out of the event room saying “They’re right, they have a point, we need to talk about this”.

For more background on the action, please see our Press Release and of course, please watch and share our video of this action!

Finally, if you’re reading this and you work in the financial sector, chances are the company you work for does invest in fossil fuels as, sadly, it appears to be the norm rather than the exception. So please do what you can to push them to divest if they haven’t already. Equally, if you know someone who works in the financial sector, please encourage them to do likewise. 

Angela Deegan

A rebel with Extinction Rebellion

Further Resources:

https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/

https://divestmentdatabase.org/report-invest-divest-2021/ 

Three of the five XRI disruptors

Stealing the show from JP Morgan to demand they Divest Now from fossil fuels!

Full and Final Ban on Petroleum Licencing Now!

Extinction Rebellion held a demonstration outside Sinn Féin’s headquarters in Dublin this afternoon, at 12pm Wednesday the 8th of December. This was to “highlight Sinn Féin’s lack of timely action to prevent oil exploration for and extraction of oil and gas in Northern Ireland”.

The DUP Minister of Economy, Gordon Lyons, is currently reviewing Petroleum Licensing Policy and intends to introduce petroleum licensing policy options into Northern Ireland Executive before Christmas. Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, Oscar Mooney, said that the activist group “calls on Sinn Féin to act now in the Northern Irish Executive to ensure a full and final ban on petroleum licensing.”

A full ban on fracking is currently a stated policy of Sinn Féin. The two fracking applications currently being lodged would allow drilling and fracking to occur at two locations in Northern Ireland, in County Fermanagh and at Lough Neagh.

In 2019, Sinn Féin issued their Climate Minority Report in which they recommend “an all-Ireland approach to climate action”, as well as more ambitious targets on renewable energy generation. While fracking is currently banned in the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England, there is no ban in place in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin put forward a bill the Northern Assembly to ban fracking. In the bill, an earlier term “all rocks” was replaced by “shale or encased in shale”. According to Extinction Rebellion, this would “leave Northern Ireland open for fracking in sandstone and coal bed methane”. It is currently considered unlikely for the bill to pass before the Northern Ireland election in Spring 2022.

Fracking results in the release of greenhouse gases and other dangerous pollutants including methane into the local air and water systems. Methane has a global warming potential 84 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. Fracking can also cause the release of contaminants into nearby ecosystems, which can travel through hydraulically connected systems, such as rivers or aquifers, and other connected natural systems. The carcinogens in the air  produced from fracking can travel up to 100 miles putting the people in the Republic at risk from health harms of fracking in Northern Ireland. 

A recent publication by the Irish Centre for Human Rights found that fracking is in violation of the right to life, right to water, right to health, right to housing, and the right to a safe, clean, environment amongst many other rights. The community around Lough Neagh including the people living in Belfast rely heavily on the lough, using it for 40% of their drinking water, and any contamination would lead to dangerous chemicals entering their water source.

Tom White from Belcoo Frack Free stated that “once drilling starts, contamination will be a very real health risk to the locals,” and asked if “Sinn Féin [is] going to fail to defend Human Rights?”

Sinn Féin has previously been vocal about banning fracking across the Island, as demonstrated in their policy documents and election manifestos.

The activist groups call on Sinn Féin to “work with other parties UUP and Alliance and form a policy that will ban licenses.” Dianne Little from LAMP Fermanagh said that “if fracking is allowed to occur in Northern Ireland, the price will be illness, real pain, and suffering to people on both sides of the border in Ireland and in communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts.”