British Banks Face Boycott For Funding Coal-Fired Power Plant

London, England (AHN) - Aside from a year of plodding through a credit crisis, some U.K. banks also have to contend with a threatened consumer boycott over loans for coal projects.

Initiated by pro-environment groups, the boycott threatens High Street banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Barclays.

Over the weekend, British police arrested 50 campaigners who protested against the construction of a new coal-fired power plant at Kingsnorth in Kent. The protesters accused the three major banks of financing the project of E.ON and other power firms that had been using coal for the past two years. RBS' loan exposure was $16 billion, HSBC had $10 billion and Barclays $5.79 billion.

Duncan McLarne, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, explained to the Guardian Unlimited, "Coal is the dirtiest and most inefficient fossil fuel there is."

RBS had granted 27 loans to coal projects across the globe between May 2006 to April 2008, Barclays 17 and HSBC three.

Data released Monday said that based on half-year reports, major U.K. banks such as HSBC, Lloyds TSB, RBS, Barclays and HBOs made combined profits of $8.21 billion (4.293 billion euro) for the first half of this year, amid the past 12 months marked by a credit crunch.