As the New York Times reports, “Last Thursday, hundreds of activists with Climate Camp, a grass-roots protest group, descended on the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland to protest the bank’s financing of carbon-intensive energy projects like mining…” In an effort to draw public attention to the sinister nature of Bank-financed projects which are allegedly environmentally harmful and morally questionable, activists glued themselves together in front of the executive parking garage to block entry. One protestor glued her hands to the front desk and read out loud a document accusing one of the Bank’s partners, an Indian coal mining company called Vedanta, of human rights abuses.

The super-gluers aren’t the only ones who think that Vedanta should no longer be supported by external funding. In an extremely uncharacteristically forward move, the Church of England decided to disinvest from the company on moral grounds this February. Several high-profile NGOs including Amnesty International have also publicly criticized the company. The reasons given have to do with how Vedanta’s coal mines are encroaching upon the habitat of indigenous peoples, thus threatening their livelihoods. Also, the company’s mines are posing a serious threat to natural ecosystems because construction and management are not well regulated and environmental protection does not seem to be very high on their priority list.

Even though stunts like gluing yourself to another person could seem like it’s just kids having too much fun in the arts and crafts cabinet, Climate Camp’s objectives were serious and well thought-out. The Royal Bank of Scotland is 83% taxpayer-owned so I think UK citizens have a right to try to control where that money is being spent. It’s like what one NGO director said in a comment directed toward Vedanta- “we will not bankroll your abuses. Anybody that has shares in Vedanta should sell them today if they care about human rights.”

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