Extinction Rebellion activists have staged a series of protests to encourage banks to cut ties with fossil fuel companies.

Demonstrations were staged outside the Canterbury branches of Barclays and HSBC yesterday which the group claimed were the "worst funders of fossil fuels on the high street".

Yesterday eco-protestors took to the high street to hand out 140 issues of their own publication, The Daily Fail, highlighting their concerns over the complicity of banking institutions in the climate crisis.

They were supported by the group's "Red Rebels" who joined the protest to express their grief over the future of the planet.

Advice was also offered to passers-by on how they can take action and move their finances to other banks.

Extinction Rebellion forms part of a a global environmental movement which uses non-violent action to pressure governments into action.

Its core message to shoppers being that the funding of fossil fuel extraction is perpetuating the acceleration of global temperatures.

According to research by BankTrack, twelve of the largest central banks around the globe continue to support climate chaos-causing fossil fuels through policy and direct finance.

David Attenborough said in his recent documentary: “It’s crazy that our banks and our pensions are investing in fossil fuel – when these are the very things that are jeopardising the future that we’re saving for.”

And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the climate crisis is now a “code red for humanity”, amid warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the threshold for the world reaching or exceeding temperature rises of 1.5C over the next few decades is "perilously close".

It comes as more than 500 arrests have been made during Extinction Rebellion’s two weeks of protests in London.

The group shared clips on social media of campaigners staging "die-ins" outside major banking institutions and holding signs to block traffic across the capital.

The Metropolitan Police said as of 6.30pm on Saturday, there have been 508 arrests in the capital since the environmental group began its action – dubbed the Impossible Rebellion – on August 23.

During these protest nearly 2,000 officers have been involved in policing the activists every day.

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October.

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