* Barclays HQ windows broken in Canary Wharf
* Extinction Rebellion says the bank is stoking climate
change
* Barclays: action was criminal damage
* Police arrest seven activists
(Adds Barclays response, paragraphs 5,6)
By Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - Police arrested seven people
outside the London headquarters of Barclays on
Wednesday after climate change activists broke windows to
protest the role of the financial sector in climate change.
The activists from the Extinction Rebellion group used
hammers to break the windows and then pasted the message "In
Case of Climate Emergency Break Glass" on the front of the
bank's building.
The group said the action was part of its "Money Rebellion"
against the capitalist system which used "nonviolent direct
action, causing damage to property to prevent and draw attention
to greater damage".
It accused the bank of "continued investments in activities
that are directly contributing to the climate and ecological
emergency".
“Extinction Rebellion are entitled to their view on
capitalism and climate change, but we would ask that in
expressing that view they stop short of behaviour which involves
criminal damage to our facilities and puts people’s safety at
risk," a spokesman for Barclays said.
“We have made a commitment to align our entire financing
portfolio to the goals of the Paris Agreement, with specific
targets and transparent reporting, on the way to achieving our
ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050, and help accelerate the
transition to a low-carbon economy."
Extinction Rebellion wants to trigger a wider revolt against
the political, economic and social structures of the modern
world to avert the worst scenarios of devastation outlined by
scientists studying climate change.
The group's move against Barclays in the Canary Wharf
business district came after activists last week splashed black
dye on the facade of the Bank of England in the historical
financial centre, the City of London.
"You may dislike our action today but I ask you to compare a
crack in a window to funding wildfires and flooded homes," said
Sophie Cowen, a 30-year-old campaigner from London.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, writing by Estelle Shirbon;
editing by Kate Holton and Jason Neely)
Barclays (BARC)