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Climate Activists in Vancouver Protest Greenwashing of TD Bank and its Funding of Line 3

August 17, 2021

The traditional and unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm peoples (Vancouver, BC) — Today, youth activists around so called Vancouver held a protest involving a mural, speeches and other art outside of TD Tower.


The action is a part of a nationwide day of action organized by Stop the Money Pipeline to call out major banks for giving dubious “sustainability loans” to Enbridge, the company behind the Line 3 pipeline that is also reimbursing local law enforcement for labour, pepper spray, K-9’s, rubber bullets and other equipment they use to commit human rights abuses on unarmed protestors.


REPORT: SEE WHICH BANKS FUND ENBRIDGE, THE COMPANY BUILDING THE LINE 3 PIPELINE >


The $9 billion Line 3 project, which is the largest in Enbridge's history, is being built through Indigenous territory without consent. The Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe are all suing to stop it. If built, Line 3 would release as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as fifty new coal-fired power plants.


“TD has invested over $13 billion in this project, yet they continue to paint themselves as green and sustainable. Our generation isn’t fooled by this,” says Amber Leung, one of the organizers.


Sustainability-linked loans sound good, but they’re close to meaningless. Enbridge’s “sustainability” loans reward the company for reducing emissions from its buildings and vehicles, but do nothing to address the oil that flows through its pipelines and is responsible for 99% of its climate pollution. In other words, according to Wall Street, so long as Enbridge uses electric vehicles and solar power to build their oil pipelines, that’s fine. This kind of corporate greenwashing is the new climate denial. 


Even ExxonMobil, the most vicious of climate-denying fossil fuel companies now knows that outright climate denials aren't feasible. So they’ve moved to lobbying behind closed doors and supporting false solutions that won’t actually reduce fossil fuel usage. Banks are doing the exact same thing.


Ahead of the Glasgow climate talks in November, fossil fuel financiers such as TD Bank are releasing greenwashed climate commitments that contradict the International Energy Association’s most recent call for an immediate moratorium on financing of new fossil fuel projects.


“It’s tiring to see, again and again, corporate interests winning at the expense of communities. But the climate science is clearer than ever - these banks need to realize that the people aren’t ignorant, and we won’t remain silent.”


Stop the Money Pipeline is a coalition of more than 150 organizations working to hold the financial backers of climate chaos accountable.

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