ING Offices Cleared As “Crime Scene” By Climate Activists, Multiple Arrests | inland

In Amsterdam it is the ING office of Kamerlingh Onneslaan. Eight activists were chained there, an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson said. “They won’t leave until the demands are met,” he said initially. The protesters also detonated a smoke bomb – biologically responsible -, the spokesman said.

At around 2.30pm, two activists were taken away by the police. According to Extinction Rebellion, they were released “pretty roughly”. A police spokesperson confirms that two arrests have been made. Activists are now being questioned. The other activists went with them to the police station, which ended the action at the ING branch.

ING closed its offices on the Molenstraat in Nijmegen about an hour after the action started at noon. The police are also present in the bank branch and are monitoring the case from a distance. The office is open in Arnhem. There the text “Arnhem aan Zee” was written on the floor with sidewalk chalk and a more peaceful approach was chosen.

In July, the offices of ING were already occupied by Extinction Rebellion. The venue was also regularly subject to occupations and demonstrations, and activists disrupted the shareholders’ meeting in May. The reason for the actions is the amount ING invests each year in the fossil industry – an average of € 9 billion a year since the Paris climate agreement, according to the activist organization. This would make ING the largest CO2 lender in the Netherlands.

The bank has the impression that the demonstration is proceeding smoothly, but ING is keeping an eye on the situation. “Where the actions of the demonstrators create an uncomfortable situation, which also threatens the privacy of our customers, we will contact the police,” said a spokesperson.

This spring, ING announced it would stop funding the discovery and exploitation of new oil and gas fields. According to ING’s head of business ethics, Arnaud Cohen Stuart, the bank is following the recommendations of the International Energy Agency (IEA) with the announced steps.

The bank is still investing money in existing pipelines, refineries and oil and gas fields. Furthermore, according to Extinction Rebellion, the bank has only finished its funding projects. General financing of fossil fuel companies is still possible and such companies can still initiate new projects.

ING is not completely exiting the fossil energy sector, because according to the bank it would completely stop financing oil and gas overnight. “Climate goals do not need to be met and jeopardizes the security of our energy supply and its affordability,” the bank said earlier.