DITCH DIRTY DEVELOPMENT

Published 2011/07/08 at 10:16 am

Working with Platform to highlight the link between banks and climate change

People & Planet is the largest, student network in Britain campaigning to end world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment.

The project is the second phase of the Ditch Dirty Development campaign. Phase one, supported by APE in 2007-08, targets the UK Government, calling for an end to the use of development aid to finance fossil fuel exploration and extraction projects. This second phase is to engage 2000 higher and secondary education students in demanding an end to the Royal Bank of Scotland’s support for oil and gas extraction projects, and a transition of this support to renewable energy.

In partnership with PLATFORM the project’s strategy is to build the threat of a boycott. The plan is to organise numerous publicity stunts throughout the UK at local branches, fresher fairs, recruitment events and particularly in Edinburgh where the RBS’ global HQ is. Students are critical customers to RBS. A student boycott, if it had enough support behind it could have a significant impact on RBS’ customer base. They have set an internal target of September 2009 to decide whether to call a boycott which gives RBS just under two years to adopt a new policy on energy investments.

“This project is the second phase of the Ditch Dirty Development campaign. Phase one of the campaign, supported by APE in 2007-08, targets the UK Government, calling for an end to the use of development aid to finance fossil fuel exploration and extraction projects.” People & Planet