The Oakham branch of Barclays has been vandalised over the festive period.

An unknown individual has spray painted "funding fossil fuels" on the front aspect of the bank on Oakham High Street, opposite Oakham Market Place.

In December 2022, the company announced a new target to facilitate "$1trn of Sustainable and Transition Financing by end of 2030 and increased our Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio's investment mandate from £175m by 2025, to £500m by 2027".

However, Greenpeace have commented on how banks are 'cashing in on the climate crisis'.

Their website states that, "in just three years from 2016 to 2018, Barclays provided $85 billion in funding to fossil fuel companies. This includes companies involved in coal, fracking, tar sands, and Arctic oil projects. Of this, $24 billion was for companies heavily involved in expanding the extraction and use of fossil fuels – which is the exact opposite of what should be happening."

Graffiti reads

This comes as, both locally and nationwide, individuals and groups are coming together to tackle climate change, with Oakham's own Oakham Climate Action group hosting a successful first meeting in December.

Read more here.

The group plan on meeting in the New Year.

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