Activists raided five Paris BNP Paribas bank branches across Paris and Nantes on Thursday, where they stole chairs to protest what they described as the bank's deliberate policy of tax evasion. The 'ANV COP21' collective planned to steal 196 chairs, representing the 196 signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, from banks they accused of channelling money through tax havens. 'ANV' stands for Action Non-Violente, while 'COP21' is the name of the upcoming global climate conference to be held in Paris. According to Txetx Etcheverry, one of the organisers of the 'ANV COP21' collective, these funds represented "billions and billions of euros worth of taxes" that could fund, among other things, the fight against climate change. Sporting yellow jackets with an 'ANV COP 21' logo, the activists walked into two different BNP Paribas branches in the 20th and 11th districts of Paris and took the chairs from most of the offices, including meeting rooms and the managers' offices. The activists all agreed to provide their names to the media in an effort to underline the peaceful character of their protest. The collective is part of a network of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that published a "call for the requisition of chairs" on 29 September, to get governments across the world to reclaim the trillion dollars that they say transit through tax havens. This group of NGOs insists it is taxpayers' money that could help fund the UN Green Climate fund, a mechanism designed to help developing countries adapt to and counter climate change. Find out more about AP Archive: http://tinyurl.com/neh3pb4 Story number for this item is: 4011661

• published: 19 Nov 2015
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