Greenpeace demonstrators landed on the roof of a European Central Bank building on Wednesday to drop a banner condemning the financial institution’s lending policies, which they argue benefit polluting industries.
Activists used a powered paraglider to scale the roof of the ECB’s Frankfurt headquarters’ reception house, where they unfurled a banner reading “Stop supporting climate killers.”
According to Greenpeace, the ECB offers businesses that generate significant quantities of greenhouse gases higher risk scores, while climate-friendly industries are burdened with a larger margin between the market value of their properties and the value ascribed to them by the ECB.
The bank was accused by the environmental organization of “systematically undermining climate security.”
The European Central Bank announced that demonstrators had landed on its roof and that police had been summoned.
“Climate change is one of humanity’s biggest threats this century,” the bank said. “Within the scope of its mandate as a central bank, the ECB is contributing to the response, working in tandem with those in charge of climate policy.”
The ECB said it was “conducting a review of its approach, which involves an in-depth study of how to respond to the climate crisis across all ECB policy areas,” according to a statement.
The bank announced earlier this year that it is creating a dedicated unit to coordinate climate change efforts across all of its projects.
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