ENVIRONMENTAL activists have staged a protest at the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) headquarters, demanding further action to combat climate change.

The campaigners are calling on the bank and others to fully commit to ending the financing of fossil fuel projects. They say RBS has been taking steps in the right direction over the past few years but believe the bank – which is majority owned by the UK Government – has a “massive opportunity” to lead the country away from fossil fuel finance.

They want the improvement in practice to be made permanent through a company policy that specifically excludes the financing of fossil fuels.

RBS said its exposure to the power, oil and gas sectors has reduced “substantially” in recent years.

The protest outside the bank’s AGM in Gogarburn, Edinburgh, involved activists from the organisations Friends of the Earth Scotland, BankTrack and other local campaign groups.