Climate campaigners on Tuesday staged a protest mobilization against Japanese financial institutions, which they claimed are the largest investors of fossil fuels projects.
“These companies’ profiles are littered with dirty and deadly investments in fossil fuel projects that cause grave harm to health, livelihoods, and local ecosystems and emitted tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD).
Nacpil said there is “no fundamental change in their policies and operations” despite calls to immediately act to solve the climate crisis.
Japan’s megabanks Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) are holding their annual shareholders meeting from June 23-29, 2023.
Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC are all facing shareholder petitions on climate change. They have declared to decarbonize their financing portfolios by 2050 through their respective transition plans. However, reports show continued support for fossil fuel projects, such as gas and LNG expansion and so-called alternative fuels ammonia and hydrogen.
Similar protest actions will take place today in Bangladesh, in front of the project office of Reliance Meghnaghat in Dhaka; on June 28 in Naga, Cebu in the Philippines on the site of JERA-funded AboitizPower; and on June 29 in Indonesia in front of the MUFG-funded Tangguh LNG Project and in India in front of the SMBC-funded Adani Group office.
All photos by Elmer Valenzuela
