28 May: Capital Confidential: Extinction Rebellion means business in the Square Mile
Extinction Rebellion makes friends with financiers
By Tom Teodorczuk
Back to the barricades! Capital can reveal that Extinction Rebellion, the climate change protest group that brought London’s streets to a standstill last month, is launching a renewed bid to persuade the City to back its environmental aims. “We’ve already had some success engaging with the business community,” an XR source tells Capital. “We’ve seen [governor of the Bank of England] Mark Carney, Legal & General and Axa. But we’re going to step it up by forming a ‘business declares emergency’ movement which will be affiliated to XR. We want large banks, insurance companies, pension funds and hedge funds to openly declare we have a climate emergency and commit to zero emissions by 2025.”...
While many in the Square Mile took exception to the chaos caused by Extinction Rebellion’s protests, which resulted in over 1,000 arrests, the XR source said the movement has a growing number of City pals. “A hedge fund manager has been significantly funding us,” they said...
Who is this hedge fund donor? Extinction Rebellion won’t say. But business leaders who have publicly backed its mission include Amy Clarke, co-founder of Tribe Impact Capital, and Bevis Watts, managing director of Triodos Bank...
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/extinction-rebellion-means-business-in-the-square-mile-20190528
23 Apr: BusinessGreen: XR Business: Green business leaders rally in support of Extinction Rebellion
by James Murray
The group also saw its support expand over the weekend with the official launch of XR Business...
The group was launched with a letter in The Times (LINK) signed by a host of leading lights in the green business community, including former CEO of Unilever Paul Polman, founder of Ecotricity Dale Vince, The Eden Project’s Sir Tim Smit, founder of Solarcentury Jeremy Leggett, Chris Davis, CSO at The Body Shop International, Safia Minney, founder and former CEO at People Tree Fair Trade group, and Diana Verde Nieto, CEO and co-founder, Positive Luxury Ltd, as well as senior executives at a host of sustainable investment firms, including WHEB, Zouk Capital, Next Energy Capital, and Triodos Bank UK.
“The multi million-pound costs that the Extinction Rebellion protests have imposed on business are regrettable, as is the inconvenience to Londoners,” the letter states. “But future costs imposed on our economies by the climate emergency will be many orders of magnitude greater.”
It adds that “contrary to belief, there is business support for the Extinction Rebellion agenda” and welcomes the formation of the new XR Business grouping to engage business leaders, investors and advisers.
“To drive things forward, the idea is to convene a meeting of XR activists and experts with business leaders and influencers,” the letter explains. “Most businesses were not designed in the context of the developing climate emergency. Hence we must urgently redesign entire industries and businesses, using science-based targets.”
The signatories to the letter also call on other business leaders to “make a declaration that we face a climate emergency and organise a session at a full board meeting to consider the case for urgent action”...
The protests were also given a further boost by the arrival of Greta Thunberg, who attended a series of events across London and will today meet with Westminster political leaders.
At a public meeting yesterday, the founder of the global School Strikes movement confirmed her support for the XR protests...
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news-analysis/3074451/xr-business-green-business-leaders-rally-in-support-of-extinction-rebellion