April 8, 2022

RBC’s climate problems go viral on their shareholder day

RBC’s annual shareholder did not go as the giant company had planned. Despite attempting to shut naysayers out by cancelling the in-person meeting down – after 5 PM the night before the meeting – Indigenous leaders and other climate oriented activists and shareholders were still heard.

The cancellation only inflamed activists, who marched through the financial district of downtown Toronto, moving a planned action to the base of RBC’s headquarters. Rallies were also held the same day at over 40 RBC branches across the country. There was even an action at RBC’s new US headquarters in Minneapolis!

Here is a powerful wrap up video from the day:

Major media stories covered the controversy over RBC’s funding of fossil fuels and projects that violate Indigenous rights in major stories in:

  • The Globe and Mail covered the “Barrage of criticism”
  • The CBC story included an interview with Mark Ruffalo
  • The Reuters wire was in many papers including the National Post said the CEO was “slammed”
  • CP Wire covered the story which appeared in Toronto Star, Yahoo Finance, and many other papers
  • Local media covered one of 40 actions at RBC branches across the country, including in the Ottawa Citizen, and in Nanaimo, Markham, and Oliver.
  • And the National Observer did a fantastic in-depth piece, including powerful photos of the Wet’suwet’en chiefs, of how the day unfolded

The story was also covered globally in all leaning global financial media. Stories in Bloomberg, Fortune, and the Financial Times all covered how Canada’s banks are increasingly off-side with the rest of the world, who are moving away from fossil fuels, while banks like RBC double down on climate doom.

Here is a tweet thread from Bank our our Future which also covers the day. A victory for everyone who wants a climate safe future!