Protestors across Canada demonstrate against RBC's fossil-fuel funding

Photo: The Canadian Press

The Royal Bank of Canada logo is seen in Halifax on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Protestors in major cities across Canada are demonstrating against the Royal Bank of Canada for funding fossil fuel projects. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Demonstrators will gather in 40 locations across Canada to protest against the Royal Bank of Canada on Saturday for funding fossil fuel projects.

The protests, part of a nation-wide effort dubbed Fossil Fools Day, will take place in cities including Kelowna, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax and Vancouver.

RBC has outlined plans to reduce its financed emissions by 2030 with an end goal of net zero by 2050.

But critics say its targets fall far short of what's needed, accusing the bank of "greenwashing" last fall when it announced its targets for this decade.

The bank has also faced criticism from Indigenous leaders including from the Wet’suwet’en, who have criticized the bank's climate record and its funding of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline.

The bank, for its part, has long stressed the importance of an orderly transition to net-zero.