Climate activists cleaned the windows of a bank in Aberystwyth, in protest against their financing of fossil fuels.

The windows of Barclays bank in Aberystwyth were cleaned in protest of claims by climate activists that it is “the dirtiest bank in Europe by 31 per cent for financing fossil fuels”, on 11 September.

Susanna, who dressed as a suffragette during the protest, said: “Children don’t have a vote, but one billion of them, or half the world’s child population, are at extreme risk from climate change, mostly from water scarcity, according to the Unicef report on 19 August.”

Vic Bamford, who distributed leaflets during the protest, said: “Most people don’t realise that our taxes, via MRC and our council taxes, are held in Barclays.

“It is essential that government and individuals bank in a way that benefits ordinary people and future generations.”

A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are aligning our entire financing portfolio to support the goals of the Paris Agreement - significantly scaling up green financing, directly investing in new green technologies and helping clients in key sectors change their business models to reduce their climate change impact.

“By 2025, we will reduce the emissions intensity of our power portfolio by 30 per cent, and reduce absolute emissions of our energy portfolio by 15 per cent. Increasing at pace, our capital markets business has already facilitated £46bn of green finance.

“We are one of the only banks globally investing our own capital – £175m – into innovative, green start-ups.

“By deploying finance in this way, we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and will become a net zero bank by 2050.”

Every Saturday, since 18 July, a Climate Emergency Centre has been held in Aber Food Surplus.

The purpose of such events is to “invite passers-by to come in, and listen to their concerns about nature loss and climate change, with the hope that together we will all feel enabled to do something about it”.

Every week, the centre employs a different theme for discussions, such as ‘Free the Press’, ‘Positive Simplicity’, ‘The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill’, and ‘the Social and Ecological Emergency’.

In the same week as the Barclays protest, the centre held a discussion around how to best engage with representatives and how our banking choices are important.