BNP Paribas, en av världens ledande banker stämmer Florent Compain, klimataktivist och ordförande i vår systerorganisation, Friends of the Earth Frankrike för hans inblandning i en ickevåldsaktion i samband med klimattoppmötet i Paris 2015.
Målet med aktionen var att belysa och fördöma BNP Paribas roll i skattefusksystemet där upp till 32 000 miljarder dollar skyddas av banken i skatteparadis som ett svar på bristen av finansiering när det kommer till klimatet och den ekologiska och sociala övergången från fossila bränslen.
Rättegången kommer att äga rum den 11 april i Bar-le – Duc i Frankrike. Ännu en gång åtalas en medborgare och en miljö- och människorättsaktivist i kampen för klimatet och de mänskliga rättigheterna när det egentligen är BNP Paribas som borde ställas till svars.
English version:
Florent Compain, President of Friends of the Earth France, is being sued by BNP Paribas for taking part in a citizen requisition of chairs [1] in one of the bank’s branches in November 2015.
The nonviolent action took place a few weeks ahead of the 21st UN Climate Change Conference (COP21). The aim was not only to condemn BNP Paribas’s role in the tax evasion system, but also to raise the alarm over the lack of funding for the climate and the ecological and social transition, while 20,000 to 32,000 billion dollars are sheltered in tax havens. Following the first prosecution of a “Faucheurs de Chaises” activist, BNP Paribas, one of the world’s leading banks and a COP21 sponsor, is now taking Florent Compain to court: his trial will take place on April 11, 2017 in Bar-le-Duc, France. Once again, a citizen and activist is being prosecuted, while BNP Paribas should be the one in the dock.
We accuse BNP Paribas of participating in the organization of tax evasion, for instance through the creation of offshore companies as revealed in the Panama Papers. With 2.4 billion euros in 2014, BNP is the French bank that generates the highest profit in tax havens.
We accuse BNP Paribas of exacerbating the climate crisis through its continuous financing to fossil fuels, nuclear and other false solutions incompatible with the social and ecological transition. While BNP Paribas has halted its direct support of new coal projects, its financing to companies involved in developing, extracting and consuming coal, which is harmful to both climate and health, continues! BNP is also looking for other fossil fuel projects to finance, such as the fracked gas LNG export terminal Texas in the US, despite the French ban on shale gas.
We accuse BNP Paribas of disregarding the people’s rights to a healthy environment and to decide for themselves on their living conditions, through its funding of companies known for misconduct against those who protest their activities (Glencore, BHP Billiton, Anglo American, etc.) or projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline in the US, currently being fought by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Because the next 5 to 10 years will be crucial in stabilizing the climate, the money currently hidden in tax havens and used to finance the world’s most polluting companies should be urgently redirected towards an ecological and social transition to help us tackle the climate challenge. Powerful multinational companies organizing the tax evasion system and the destruction of the environment and living conditions of people around the globe should be prosecuted – not “Faucheurs de Chaises” activists, whistleblowers and environmental activists. BNP Paribas is the one that belongs in the dock.
[1] « Requisitions of chairs » were non-violent actions led by the collective Faucheurs De Chaises in 2015: https://www.amisdelaterre.org/campagne/les-faucheurs-de-chaises/