Former investment banker joins Extinction Rebellion protests in Westminster
By Hannah Neary, Local Democracy Reporter
A former investment banker has told how they joined Extinction Rebellion out of fear for the future of Britain’s younger generation.
Chidi Oti-Obihara joined protesters in Central London on Tuesday, August 24, to make a speech criticising the UK Government’s financing of fossil fuels.
He said: “The young people at the demos are at risk of being Britain’s lost generation.
“There is now an 89 per cent chance that once in a century weather events will happen annually.
“We’re going to face trillions and trillions of dollars of constant devastating failure and it’s going to affect the youth.
“They’ve been through the utter unmitigated hell of the worst pandemic this country has seen in more than 100 years and then come out of this to face a world where their prospects have been massively restricted.
“There’s no other generation that’s had to do that. It’s horrific.”
Extinction Rebellion (XR) began a fortnight of demonstrations throughout the city on August 23, calling for the government to end new fossil fuel investments.
XR wants wants greenhouse emissions to reach net zero by 2025. The government currently plans to reach net zero by 2050.
Chidi thinks 2050 is too late and has been campaigning for the government to ask for a vote on banning further financing of fossil fuel contracts at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) this autumn.
He continued: “You get gripped by climate grief and you ask yourself serious questions about how you can make a difference. This is the best I can do.
“I’ve never been arrested for XR, I haven’t screamed at anyone or chased a police officer and I never will. But I can use my voice.”
He worked in banking for over a decade for firms like Natwest and Morgan Stanley.
After the financial crisis in 2008, he was as a consultant for 10 years, helping companies that were suffering with debt.
He added: “After a while, I was thinking really hard about ‘What is this all about?’
“You have to work out what your values are at the end of the day.
“Is life really all about doing what you can to buy a Porsche and then you die or do you want to be an impactful human being?
“If so, what impact do you want to have?”
Chidi jokes that he is one of very few bankers who have joined XR.
Many members are reportedly teachers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, students and even retired grandparents.
They say they are joined by the common goal of tackling the climate crisis.
Chidi said the group promotes radical inclusivity, which means any kid of person is welcome.
He added: “You’ve got dyed in the wool communists, anarchists, and people like me I guess.
“We all come from different walks of life – we’ve got XR doctors and lawyers, we’ve got theatrical people, we’ve got everything.”
For an organisation that started just three years ago, XR has expanded rapidly, with 650 groups in 45 countries.
To date, its main Facebook page has more than 400,000 likes and the XR UK Twitter account has around 70,000 followers.
