This week climate activists around the world are mobilising to demand a Just Recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic ahead of two important meetings that will be attended by the wealthiest governments and finance decision-makers.
The heads of EU-states will meet at a Special European Council on July 17-18. At the same time, Finance Ministers and Central Bankers representing the G20 countries will meet on July 18. Both sets of meetings will cover sweeping measures to tackle the economic recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the UK: activists projected video footage onto the Bank of England and the Treasury building in London calling for the government and financial decision-makers to Build Back Better.
Nick Bryer, Europe campaigner at 350.org said: “Central banks are pumping vast sums of money into our economies right now, but without having taken any steps to exclude fossil fuel corporations and high-carbon sectors. That means they’re trying to address one crisis while simultaneously fuelling another. There have been some promising statements made by leading central bankers, insisting that they do care about their impact on the climate, but we need to see actions. Otherwise it is simply hypocrisy. They need to stop buying up corporate bonds from climate-wrecking fossil fuel companies, and instead channel funds towards a more equitable and green economy.”
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, has said that the Bank will consider taking climate risk into consideration when buying corporate bonds, but only after the Covid-19 crisis abates. In the UK, nearly 20% of £18.8 billion in initial bailout finance released by the Bank of England went to highly polluting oil and gas firms, airlines and the automotive industry.
People around the world are demanding that the heads of central banks and the wealthiest governments move beyond empty words to deliver a Just Recovery.