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Spotlight on Fracking Funders Barclays

news release

Residents from across Greater Manchester will be campaigning outside Barclays St Ann’s Square Branch, Manchester, on Saturday (29 October) to highlight the banking giant’s financial interests in fracking.

Members of Frack Free Greater Manchester will be talking to the public and Barclays customers to raise awareness of the bank’s role in funding fracking -which carries serious risks to communities, the environment and our climate change commitments [1].

Barclays are majority owners of fracking firm Third Energy, which was recently granted permission to frack in Ryedale, North Yorkshire, despite the opposition of local communities and more than 4,000 objections [2].

Support for fracking is at an all-time low [3], yet several boroughs across Greater Manchester are under threat of fracking, with licenses awarded to oil and gas companies across all of Wigan and Bolton, as well as huge swathes of Salford, Trafford, Bury and Rochdale [4].

Jenny Ross from Frack Free Greater Manchester said: “Communities across Greater Manchester are organizing to protect their children, their land and their water from fracking. After the decision to deny Cuadrilla planning permission in Lancashire was overturned by central government, they know the Tories will stop at nothing to impose this unwanted, unneeded and unsafe industry on them.

“Instead of accepting this affront to democracy, people are redoubling their resistance and reasserting their democratic right to say no to fracking; starting with withdrawing their custom from industry backers like Barclays Bank and ending with this extreme industry being banned like it has been in several European countries and several states across the USA.” [5]

Ali Abbas of Manchester Friends of the Earth said: “Given the urgent need to tackle climate change, people will be shocked and angry to discover thatBarclays is funding fracking.

“If Barclays wants to repair the damage this is doing to its brand, it needs to move its money out of dirty fossil fuels and invest instead in clean renewable energy.”

Barclays are under pressure from customers and community groups fighting fracking to cease funding fracking activity. The Manchester action comes during a nationwide week of action – supported by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, climate campaign group 350.org and students’ organization People and Planet – against the company and follows a 9000-strong petition to the Barclays AGM earlier this year[6].

ENDS

PHOTO CALL: 11:30am Saturday 29TH October Barclays Bank St Ann’s Square Branch, Manchester. Campaigners, accompanied by huge anti-fracking puppet ‘Mr Frackhead’, will gather with banners and signs to send a message to Barclays to stop backing fracking.

CONTACT: Pete Abel: 07951 642858

EDITOR’S NOTES

[1]  Why Barclays’ fracking excuses don’t add up.

[2] BBC Landmark North Yorkshire fracking operation approved.

[3]  Support for fracking is at an all-time low, says new survey

[4] Map of licenses

[5] Fracking Bans

[6]  Why we took the fracking campaign to the Barclays AGM

 

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