Climate and pro-Palestinian activists, including Greta Thunberg, on Friday temporarily blocked access to Norway’s central bank and occupied the headquarters of the country’s largest bank in protest at their Israeli and fossil fuel investments.
The actions in Oslo were part of a civil disobedience campaign intended to last around 10 days, with the aim of influencing parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 8.
Members of environmental group Extinction Rebellion and a pro-Palestinian group blocked access to the central bank, which also oversees country’s massive sovereign wealth fund.
In a statement, they accused the central bank of keeping investments, through the sovereign fund, in companies “that support the illegal occupation and genocide in Palestine.”
Another group of activists stormed and occupied the lobby of DNB bank, demanding that it stop funding the development of fossil fuels.
“DNB is the Nordic bank that invests the most money in oil and gas, nearly three times more than the runner-up,” activist Lea Wiggen said in the statement.
“When we demand an exit from fossil fuels, this also applies to companies investing in the collapse of our society,” she added.
Norway, western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer, is regularly criticized for its huge fossil fuel output, but its main political parties have no plans to end production.
By mid-morning, an Oslo police official told reporters that most of the activists had been removed.
As part of their campaign, Extinction Rebellion activists have already blocked Norway’s largest oil refinery in Mongstad — located on the country’s west coast — as well as Oslo’s main avenue and a DNB branch.
