A group of more than thirty climate activists blocked the entrance to the Rabobank on Fellenoord in Eindhoven on Wednesday. These are activists from Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace. They stand in front of the building with banners and dressed as pigs and cows. According to a spokesperson, they will only leave if Rabobank meets two requirements.
“The bank must promise not to invest any more money in agriculture that leads to the destruction of nature and they must pay for the damage caused by agriculture,” explains spokesperson Ronald van Marlen.
The climate activists initially wanted to enter and occupy the building. But when they arrived at the entrance to the Rabobank, they were already met by security guards and the police. That is why the activists are now blocking the main entrance and the staff entrance at the back. They have hung banners with texts such as ‘Stop killing us’ and walk around in animal suits.
“Rabobank is always good at securing the building, we already knew that,” says spokesperson Van Marlen. “So that just means we’re adjusting the action. We’re not inside now, so that means the police don’t have to drag us away. Basically that means we can stay as long as we want.”
Pay for nitrogen damage
‘Stop destroying, start compensating’ is the slogan of the demonstrators on Wednesday. According to the activists, the bank must ‘pay for the nitrogen damage’. “It concerns at least 3.1 billion in the Netherlands and 9.5 billion in Brazil.”
Extinction Rebellion is also demonstrating in three other places in the Netherlands. The Rabobank was not randomly chosen by the activists. “In the Netherlands, Rabobank’s advice has encouraged farmers to keep more and more animals and to get deeper and deeper into debt,” says spokesperson Van Marlen.
According to Extinction Rebellion, this causes unnecessary animal suffering. “Farmers have received little support in recent years to work more in harmony with nature and many are deeply in debt.” That has to stop, is one of the demands.
The second demand from the occupiers is that the bank will, among other things, pay for the nitrogen damage. According to Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace, this has amounted to almost 13 billion euros since 2000. “This includes the costs of, among other things, water, land and air pollution, and its impact on the health of people in the Netherlands and Brazil,” says van Marlen.