We Disrupted RBCs Climate Action Institute Event
Young people refuse to be props for RBCs climate greenwashing. On May 21, RBCs Climate Action Institute held a “youth-centric, interactive” event centered on their new climate report. Young people to showed up to see what it was all about (spoiler alert: just more greenwashing.)
The event drew 60 youth attendees who were seated at mixed tables with a few RBC employees at each. Questions were moderated through a third party app. They had to be approved by RBC before other attendees could see them and then voted on to be addressed. RBC told us “we’re here for a reason. It’s not to talk to you, but to work with you.” In reality attendees could not speak aloud or to each other.
RBC hosted an expert panel which featured speakers from Shell and Enbridge, energy companies responsible for the climate crisis. The panel also featured a speaker from the World Wildlife Fund, who have repeatedly come under fire for unethical practices and human rights violations. John Stackhouse repeated greenwashing PR from the Climate Action Institute. Young people asked questions. RBC dodged them.
A youth attendee named Lucy made the point that, “obviously, the people that are already marginalized within society are also those that are more affected by climate change. And so, in our climate solutions we have the opportunity to kind of kill two birds with one stone, solving equity while also looking at the climate. And then also so many of these solutions are economically beneficial, they’re good for business and they’re more profitable in the long-run than things like fossil fuels that are set to expire within the next few decades”
Another young person in attendance named Louis added that, “one way RBC could use its influence [to centre Indigenous perspectives is] to make good on its commitments to honour Indigenous participation. For example, instead of what happened at the AGM, I think it was a big story, about the abuse of Indigenous people. And also the CGL pipeline, there’s a lot of backlash against that, and police have been brutalizing Indigenous people. I think this is a great opportunity for RBC to use its leverage to help actually let more Indigenous voices come in and make a real impact.”
Eventually, a young activist named Gus stood up and disrupted the event. They spoke truth to power calling out RBC, saying, “RBC, you talk about reparations with Indigenous Peoples, but you force pipelines like the Coastal GasLink through sovereign Indigenous territory without consent. You enact violence on Indigenous land defenders and continue the legacy of colonization that seeks to eradicate Indigenous Peoples by eradicating their land and resources. How is this working towards reparations?”
Gus remarked that, ““For the last two and a half hours, we have asked questions and had them censored and haven’t been allowed to speak them aloud. We’re genuinely trying to understand RBC’s plan for climate action and all I’ve heard from you is distraction and greenwashing. While you fund these events and make empty promises, you fund war crimes across the globe. Your fossil fuel investments continue to increase and there has been no plan to divest. This is not climate action and this is not securing our future.” At this point dozens of young people stood up and walked out of this greenwashing PR stunt.
