Climate activists protest at famous historic site near Ripon and Harrogate

Climate activists turned up in the guise of ‘The Red Rebels’ at Fountains Abbey on Saturday, surprising visitors as they called on The National Trust to cut its alleged links to fossil fuels.

They then performed a silent but theatrical procession dressed in eye-catching red robes with white faces.

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, famous for its Cistercian Abbey and landscaped water gardens, is owned by the National Trust, which is the guardian of nature reserves, national parks, coastline, historic buildings and estates across the country.

The campaigners, part of the BankBetter coalition of activists, are demanding that the National Trust stops banking with Barclays, who they claim finance destructive fossil fuel extraction projects worldwide.

Afterwards, the peaceful protest received the backing of North Yorkshire Councillor Arnold Warneken, who said: "The attention-grabbing theatre of the Red Rebels is highlighting the urgency of climate chaos and biodiversity loss.

“The National Trust should play its full part in combating the climate emergency in every way it can.

"By following the lead of organisations like Christian Aid and Oxfam, they can put pressure on Barclays to end financing for the fossil fuel corporations who bear massive responsibility for climate breakdown.”

Extinction Rebellion claims Barclays is Europe’s biggest funder of fossil fuels.

The campaign group says that in 2023, Barclays provided $24 billion of financing to fossil fuel companies.

Since the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, was signed at a UN conference in 2016, the bank’s financing in that regard has exceeded $235 billion, claim protesters.

Campaigners carried signs saying ‘Love National Trust, Not Barclays’, and engaged with visitors, handing out leaflets and collecting signatures for a petition calling on the National Trust to switch to a different bank.

Last year The National Trust announced it had ceased new investments into fossil fuels.

Barclays has said it believes it can “make the greatest difference as a bank by working with customers and clients as they transition to a low-carbon business model”.