Climate activists occupy heart of Zurich financial district

ZURICH: Dozens of

climate

activists occupied the heart of

Zurich

's financial district on Monday to protest against big banks' financing of

fossil fuel

projects that damage the environment.

The

Blick

newspaper showed pictures of activists crowded against the entrances to

Credit Suisse

and

UBS

in the Paradeplatz square in the Swiss financial hub.

"Credit Suisse and UBS have so far done anything but respond adequately to the climate crisis. That is why the

climate justice

movement is occupying the Credit Suisse headquarters and the nearby UBS office today to draw attention to the consequences of the Swiss financial institutions' inaction,"

Frida Kohlmann

, spokesperson for the

Rise Up for Change

group, said in a statement.

Activists had staged a hoax outside Credit Suisse's headquarters last week, posing as representatives of the

Swiss bank

and announcing an end to its fossil fuel financing.