Actions Around the World Put Tokio Marine on Notice
March 31, 2021
Over the past week, climate justice and community rights advocates kick-started the launch of a global campaign demanding Tokio Marine stop insuring coal, oil and gas projects with energized actions in South, Southeast and East Asia, Australia as well as North America. Outside company offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Jakarta, Delhi, Melbourne, Sydney and New York, groups gathered to put the global insurance company on notice:
Locking us into reliance on fossil fuel infrastructure now and far into the future is simply not acceptable. These projects wreak havoc on the climate and threaten our very existence. They are not needed and not wanted. The science is clear: we need to leave coal, oil and gas in the ground.
Members of the Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society along with 350.org Japan gather outside the Tokio Marine’s headquarters in Tokyo. Credit: Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society & 350.org Japan
That’s why activists from diverse walks of life brought the message directly to Tokio Marine’s offices, noting this is where insurance deals that allow the most destructive fossil fuel projects to advance may be sealed.
Last week also marked the launch of the Olympic Torch Relay, of which Tokio Marine is a gold sponsor. It was in tandem with this occasion, that actions in different cities around the world kicked off the beginning of a relay of public pressure that will ramp up in the coming months.
Solutions for Our Future visited Tokio Marine’s headquarters in Seoul, urging them to stop
underwriting and investing in coal, oil and gas projects. Credit: Solutions for Our Future
We will continue to amplify our calls until Tokio Marine adopts a policy and actionable plans to immediately align its insurance and investment portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5C and ensure clients respect all human rights, including Indigenous Peoples’ rights to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Climate justice advocates gathered in front of Tokio Marine’s Indonesian headquarters
in Jakarta. Credit: Trend Asia
More than 30 organizations, social movements, and community alliances from around the world also sent a letter last week with the same message to the CEO of Tokio Marine. Specifically, the letter highlighted a number of fossil fuel projects of global concern that the company must urgently and unequivocally rule out — as a first step towards meaningful action.
The #StopAdani movement puts Tokio Marine on notice–reiterating the demand they not insure the Adani Carmichael coal mine and associated infrastructure. Credit: Solutions for Our Future
To date, we are still awaiting a response from Tokio Marine.
*This blog was reposted from the Insure Our Future website.
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For more information about the campaign check out https://pollutingtheplanet.com/