The human rights department at Leigh Day & Co has been instructed by the World Development Movement, Platform and People & Planet, to launch a judicial review against the Government to ensure that taxpayers’ money used to bail out the Royal Bank of Scotland is used only in projects that meet minimum green and human rights standards.

The environment groups claim that RBS has failed to make a binding commitment to basic low-carbon principles, and that the Treasury in bailing out the bank, has breached its own policy to tackle climate change.  RBS has a long history of lending to the energy industry.  The groups want the Government to assess RBS’s lending portfolio and guarantee that the bank is only investing in projects that promote “a sustainable and ethical future”.

Rosa Curling, a lawyer in the human rights team at Leigh Day, said:

 “The government has the power and control to ensure public money provided to UK banks is not invested or lent to projects that harm the climate or individual human rights”.

Ian Leggett, People & Planet’s director, said:

 “The government now controls RBS and has an exceptional opportunity to drive investments in low carbon jobs and infrastructure, not to repeat the recklessness of the past.

“If we are to stand a chance of stopping climate change, the first priority is to make a clear and irreversible commitment to stop investing in high-carbon companies and projects.”

For more information please contact Rosa Curling on 020 7650 1200.