Suddenly, huge wanted posters of the Flemish Rabobank CEO appear at offices in the Netherlands: “Responsible for deforestation”

“Wanted: CEO of Rabobank. Responsible for deforestation. Damage: 10,000,000,000 euros.” Last month, Greenpeace lowered two banners more than six stories high from a 91-meter-high office tower in the heart of Amsterdam’s financial district. It shows the image of Rabobank CEO Stefaan Decraene, in pure western style. Anyone driving on the A10 ring road or leaving Amsterdam Zuid station cannot miss it. The same posters also appeared at the stations of Utrecht, Amsterdam Amstel and The Hague. And doctored photos of Decraene with a chainsaw in a felled forest surfaced on social media.

“Every minute we lose several football fields of forest. This has disastrous consequences for the climate and our planet,” Greenpeace said. “Without the financial support of banks, this large-scale destruction of nature would never be possible. Rabobank is the largest Dutch bank that finances companies in sectors with a high risk of deforestation.” According to Greenpeace, Rabobank was linked to the loss of 17,200 hectares of forest in Brazil in 2023, the year in which our compatriot became CEO, ‘good’ for 512 million euros in natural damage. In 2022, this would even amount to 66 billion euros, “of which 9.5 billion euros could be directly attributed to the bank.”

Rabobank has now gone to court to stop the “smear campaign”, which is “unnecessarily offensive and demonizing” to its CEO. “It’s great that Greenpeace is speaking to us, but this could threaten its safety,” the bank said. And so she demands that all images online and on the street be removed within 24 hours on pain of a penalty of 10,000 euros per day, money that the bank will transfer to a charity chosen by the environmental organization.

Greenpeace calls the lawsuit “a bit childish”. “Rabobank’s complaint that our campaign would be ‘dangerous’ for the CEO does not make any sense. On the other hand, Rabobank’s investments that contribute to deforestation are very dangerous for millions of people.”