Canadian First Nations activist confronts Barclays with the impacts of their investment decisions

This morning at 11am, Ocean Hyland, a 22 year old Canadian First Nations activist opposing tar sands pipelines in British Columbia, asked the following question at the Barclays’ Bank AGM in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Parliament Square.

Ocean is a member of the Tsleil Waututh First Nation of Canada, whose lands are in modern Vancouver, British Columbia. She travelled 5,000 miles to London to ask Barclays not to finance the Kinder Morgan pipeline carrying oil from the tar sands in Alberta through British Columbia to the coast.

The pipeline is facing fierce opposition from the BC government, environmentalists, and the First Nations whose lands, water and food sources are threatened by oil spills from the pipeline. The extraction and refining process of the tar sands is so energy intensive that they produce the highest carbon oil in the world, and could account for around 16% of the world’s carbon budget under the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree limit if the entire deposit is burned.

After introducing herself and her Nation, the Tsleil Waututh, and their relationship with and reliance on the inlet after which they are named (full text at bottom of PR) Ocean said –

“The Tsleil Waututh Nation has conducted an independent assessment of the project, grounded in our unextinguished Indigenous laws, and backed by cutting edge science. Based on this, we have withheld our free prior informed consent. Building this pipeline will therefore violate the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. It also infringes on our Aboriginal Rights, guaranteed by the Canadian constitution.

“If built, Kinder Morgan’s project will increase tanker traffic in the inlet 7 fold, bringing with it increased risks of oil spills and pollution. It will also enable the expansion of the Alberta Oil Sands which, in turn will accelerate climate change. And that is why The Tsleil Waututh Nation will do whatever it takes to stop the Kinder Morgan project.

“Mr. Chairman I’m asking Barclays to withdraw any further funding of this dangerous proposed tar sands pipeline. While you may not want to talk about particular clients or projects, silence will not absolve Barclays from the negative consequences of lending decisions made here in London or in New York on directly impacted local communities.

“I urge Barclays to reconsider its involvement in this project, and avoid funding the further destruction of my people and the planet.”

The AGM Chair responded that the Bank was looking into the issue and preparing a policy for publication, the Head of Reputational Risk, Mary Francis, confirmed the bank would publish a new statement on ‘extreme oil’ and another on climate change.