EXTINCTION REBELLION targeted Barclays branches across the country today in a series of actions that saw activists smash windows and spray fake oil over the banks. 

The climate group said that it had targeted over 100 branches of the banking giant in protest at Barclays investing in fossil fuel firms and projects. 

Police in Glasgow made two arrests after activists cracked windows at the bank’s multimillion-pound offices in the Scottish city. 

Protesters held up banners calling on the company to “stop funding Rosebank,” referring to the oil and gas field 80 miles off the coast of the Shetland Islands. 

The Glasgow demonstrators said the field holds more than 500 million barrels of oil and that Barclays has provided Norwegian state-owned firm Equinor with $2.46 billion (£2bn) of investment since 2015.

Extinction Rebellion Scotland activist Alex Cochrane described the bank as the “biggest funder of fossil fuel in Europe.”

“Their greed is exploiting and creating a future of famine, displaced people and global suffering,” he said.

“We all know we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels. We all know the climate crisis is already hitting us, yet Barclays still refuses to do the right thing for us.

“For all our sakes, they must stop using our money to fund fossil fuels.”

In Birmingham, activists threw “washable” fake oil over the entrance of the bank’s High Street branch. Extinction Rebellion reported that those involved in the action had been arrested.  

One of the protesters, Matthew, 41, said: “I’m acting today because the world is running out of time to prevent global warming from tipping over 1.5°C. 

“Fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas are the industries of the past and Barclays needs to switch its investment from these old, polluting industries to new sources of renewable energy that will generate thousands of new jobs for the people of Birmingham and the Midlands.”

In Wales, Extinction Rebellion Cymru activists locked on inside the Barclays branch in Cardiff’s Old Church Road. 

Ahead of last year’s Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, it was reported that the bank had provided $5.6bn (£4.1bn) in finance for new fossil fuel projects from January 2021.