Chained and with oil on their cheeks, the Extinction Rebellion demonstrators sat outside the ING office in the city center of Eindhoven on Saturday afternoon. They are holding a protest against fossil subsidies and the fossil industry. The demonstrators smeared the windows of the building with oil.
‘Tame the lion’, graffiti has been sprayed on the ground. The action is in line with the protests that took place on the A12 in recent weeks. near The Hague. Climate organization Extinction Rebellion believes that the government should stop fossil subsidies, because investing in oil, coal and gas is ultimately bad for the environment. “But not only the government has a responsibility in this, banks also have that,” the activists say.
Investing in fossil industry
ING invests five billion annually in the fossil industry, which is a thorn in the side of the climate organization. Although the bank has already completed a few projects involving oil and gas extraction, this is happening too slowly, according to the climate demonstrators. The slowest of all banks, they think. “We therefore call on ING to take its responsibility and immediately stop financing the fossil industry,” they write.
The defacement and occupation of the ING office in Eindhoven is part of a national action. They ‘symbolically return the oil to ING’ and deface the windows. “And we will remain present until our demand is met.”