Amsterdam police arrest 2 Extinction Rebellion activists protesting at ING

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion protested at several ING branches on Saturday to draw attention to the bank's financing of companies that extract and process fossil fuels. The police arrested two protesters in Amsterdam.

Activists at around 11 different ING branches chained themselves to desks, set off a biologically-safe smoke bomb and poured oil over themselves, according to the AD. In Utrecht, they cordoned off a branch of the bank and told people it was a "crime scene." The two protesters who were arrested in Amsterdam had chained themselves to the office building and would not leave, according to the police.

An ING spokesperson told the NOS that the demonstrations went smoothly. However, Extinction Rebellion disagreed. "People have been removed by the police or have received fines," a spokesperson for the activist group told the NOS.

Extinction Rebellion has been protesting against ING's fossil fuel financing for some time. The group also occupied offices in July and protested several times at the head office in Amsterdam-Zuidoost. Since the climate agreement in Paris was concluded in 2015, ING has invested 9 billion euros annually in fossil financing, according to Extinction Rebellion. This would make ING the largest financier of CO2 emissions in the Netherlands.

This spring, ING announced that it would stop funding the discovery and exploitation of new oil and gas fields. According to ING's head of business ethics, Arnaud Cohen Stuart, these steps followed the recommendations of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

However, the bank is still investing money in pipelines, refineries, and existing oil and gas fields. In addition, according to Extinction Rebellion, the bank has only terminated financing projects. General financing of fossil fuel companies is still possible and those companies can still set up new projects.

ING said it not completely exiting the fossil energy sector because it would go too far to completely stop financing oil and gas overnight. "It is not necessary to achieve the climate goals and it jeopardizes the security of supply of our energy and its affordability," the bank said earlier.