Extinction Rebellion activists occupied Barclays bank in Cambridge on Saturday (07/05), calling for an end to investment in fossil fuels.

Campaigners entered the bank, as part of a surprise occupation, and sat on the floor where they created a poster with the slogan “A Better World is Possible”.

The group of demonstrators then moved out onto St Andrew’s Street and staged a “die-in” around the poster. They displayed messages such as “Barclays, The Ecocide Bank” and “End Fossil Fuels Now”.

Traffic on St Andrews Street was brought to a halt as protesters lied down on the street pretending to be dead.

The traffic was reportedly stopped for five minutes at a time throughout the “die-in”, which lasted roughly forty minutes in total. Members of the public were heard voicing their anger at the disruption.

Extinction Rebellion Cambridge say they occupied Barclays to protest against their “massive financing of planet-killing fossil fuels”.

Research shows that since 2015, Barclays is ranked seventh worst of all banks for its investments in fossil fuels.

Extinction Rebellion has criticised the role which banks’ investments can play in increasing fossil fuel production and causing global climate change targets to be missed.

One activist involved said: “Barclays is a huge, wealthy company and it has the power to invest huge amounts of money in positive, transformative projects like renewable energy, which will ultimately benefit everyone as our energy becomes cheaper, cleaner and more reliable.”

Since 2018, Extinction Rebellion has been involved in civil disobedience across Cambridge, with targets including the University and local government.