The Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation set up a Tipi outside Credit Suisse and UBS headquarters in Zurich on Wednesday.
The First Nations delegation was organised by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), with the women representing North American Indigenous communities from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Oglala Lakota and Mdewakantonwan Dakota, the Diné/Navajo, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and Louisiana’s United Houma Nation.
In a statement posted to the group's Facebook page, the protesters said: "It is time for financial institutions to transition off of fossil fuels into clean energy investments. No more pipelines!"
Alongside them were members of the KlimaSeniorinnen ('Senior Women for Climate Protection'), a group that has explored legal avenues to hold governments responsible for the impact climate change will have on future generations.
The publicity stunt was directed at two Swiss banks who are major financiers for fossil fuel projects. It is part of a broader movement fighting environmentally destructive projects through divestment.
According to Greenpeace, Credit Suisse and UBS provided $12 billion to companies responsible for projects such as tar sands mining and coal-fired power plants between 2015 and 2017.
The delegation is hoping to pressure the banks to divest from projects such as the Dakota Pipeline. Source: Facebook
"Our territory is in the heart of the Mississippi River delta, where Energy Transfer Partners is trying to push the tail end of the Dakota Access pipeline, known as the Bayou Bridge Pipeline through our sacred waters and lands without our consent," Monique Verdin from the Houma Nation said in a video from the camp posted on Facebook.
