Achi news desk-
About 25 people gathered in Moncton on Saturday to bring awareness to fossil fuel investments, climate change and indigenous land rights.
Protesters gathered outside the Royal Bank of Canada [RBC] branch on Mountain Road for the second annual Fossil Fools Day.
Rallies were held across Canada in 40 cities from Vancouver to Halifax.
The goal of the rally for those in Moncton was to encourage large corporations and banks like RBC to pull their money out of fossil fuel investments and start taking climate change more seriously.
A letter was delivered to an RBC employee inside the branch by the group of concerned citizens.
Protester Rowan Swain said he wanted a livable future.
“I want a just future that I can be proud of and that I can live in,” Swain said.
Swain does not believe the federal government or RBC is taking climate change seriously enough.
“But people are starting to wake up to this. It’s becoming something we can’t ignore. Wildfires, floods, more extreme weather patterns, international hunger, these are things that are no longer a question of something and could happen in the future, they’re happening right now,” Swain said.
Christine Lever said the event was organized to highlight the way RBC is acting as if there is no climate crisis ahead of the financial institution’s general meeting on April 11.
“We’re standing here pointing out that there really is a climate crisis, it’s not made up and we have to do something,” Lever said.
In a news release, Fossil Fools Day spokeswoman Eve Saint said RBC has a negative impact on lands, water and indigenous communities.
Saint demands that RBC act by “respecting indigenous sovereignty, human rights and stop fueling the climate crisis.”
Vanessa Gray, the national spokesperson for Fossil Fools Day, said in the news release that RBC must “quickly stop financing fossil fuels” and increase climate-safe investment solutions.
RBC spokesman Jeff Lanthier said the financial institution recognizes the importance of climate action and embraces its role in supporting clients and communities to rapidly transition to a greener economy.
“Supporting our clients on their decarbonisation journey is where we believe we can have the greatest impact in the climate transition,” Lanthier said in a statement.
Lanthier went on to say that RBC is allocating $1 billion to develop innovative climate solutions by 2030 and aims to increase its low carbon energy lending to $35 billion by the same year.
Lever said the group that gathered in Moncton on Saturday was making a concerted effort to bring the message of climate change to the New Brunswick public.
“It’s an uphill battle, but we’re in it for the long haul,” Lever said.
A member of the Codiac Regional RCMP was present for Saturday’s rally in Moncton, but it ended after about an hour without incident.
