Royal Bank of Climate Destruction

You know it, I know it — most of us already know it: the world must immediately transition from fossil fuels to have a shot at a liveable future. [1] And yet, fossil fuel infrastructure continues to expand, bankrolled by major financial institutions.

The worst offender in Canada is RBC, who spent US$10.8 billion on fossil fuel expansion in 2022 alone. That’s 45% more funding than the year before. [2] This eye-popping amount of money is what allows destructive projects like Coastal GasLink and the TransMountain pipelines to be built, in violation of Indigenous rights. [3,4]

But with RBC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) coming up on April 5, we have a big opportunity to call out their reckless fossil financing. [5]

This AGM is hugely important for RBC: they’ll want to make themselves look profitable and “greenwash” their investments. So, Asarial, it’s up to us to show that these investments are worsening the climate crisis – and costing RBC their reputation.

Here’s the plan: in the run-up to their AGM, we launch escalating actions to get RBC’s executives to rethink their fossil fuel investments. We’ll flood them with pressure via email, social media, and on the streets. But we’ve costed it out, and we’ll need to raise $10,124.22 by next Tuesday to hit go.

With the RBC AGM coming up, we’ll have to act fast. Will you chip in what you can for our hard-hitting campaign calling on RBC to stop funding fossil fuels now?

Here’s what we’ve got up our sleeves. We’re gearing up for a national day of action right before the AGM, with rallies and events to be held outside RBC branches across the country. Hundreds of us will show up in our communities to demand that RBC stops funding climate destruction.

At the same time, we’ll also launch hard-hitting online actions targeting RBC’s brand and their CEO, Dave McKay through email, snappy social posts, and on RBC’s own Facebook page to make sure they’re feeling the pressure before the AGM even starts. Those digital tactics and organizing for the day of action will cost us $8155.

If we can raise an additional $1969, we’ll also run a targeted ad campaign on social media. We’ll strategically target current and potential RBC customers, to show RBC executives and shareholders that continuing on this climate-destroying path will cost them their reputation and bottom line. With your help, we can make this plan a reality. Will you chip in what you can now?

That’s why this campaign is important. We need to remind RBC that there are serious consequences to financing Big Oil companies that continue to violently remove Indigenous people from their lands in order to extract fossil fuels that put all of our futures at risk. [6]

Our movement’s calls for climate action have gotten so loud that this year, RBC is moving the AGM from Toronto – where their headquarters are located – all the way to Saskatoon. [7] But they can’t outrun the consequences of bankrolling climate chaos. A massive campaign in the leadup to RBC’s AGM could show them that the threat to their image — and bottom line — is mounting. Will you chip in what you can today?

https://act.leadnow.ca/RBC-fundraiser-2023/

With determination,
Rivka and Dan, on behalf of Leadnow

Sources:
[1] www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/20/climate-change-ipcc-report-15/
[2] financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/rbc-fossil-fuel-funding-jumped?
[3] www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rbc-coastal-gaslink-defends-1.6412189
[4] www.nationalobserver.com/2022/05/31/news/canada-biggest-banks-quietly-prop-tmx
[5] www.nationalobserver.com/2023/03/21/opinion/rbc-should-expect-shareholder-showdown-wherever-it-goes-even-saskatoon
[6] thenarwhal.ca/wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-rcmp-overview/
[7] See [5]