US activists urge Japanese megabanks to stop supporting LNG/methane projects, citing threat of ecological destruction
"Japanese Banks Backing Dangerous LNG/Methane Projects," 7 October 2024
Gulf Coast Community Leaders visit Tokyo to demand that Japan’s financial institutions stop supporting dirty fossil fuel projects that threaten their health, culture, economy and wildlife.
For the first time, activists from the Rio Grande Valley, Texas... will join Rainforest Action Network to meet with representatives from Japanese insurance company and Japanese megabanks like MUFG to discuss the support from these companies for massive LNG/methane projects that are poised to destroy ancestral homelands, decimate eco-tourism in the region, and threaten endangered species.
These companies are trying to occupy this land — all for fossil fuel riches. These projects will ruin our air, pollute our water, and desecrate our ancestral lands. They want to destroy this land — but to do that they will have to destroy our people. And we won’t allow that. We won’t be intimidated anymore.Juan Mancias, Tribal Chair, Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas
Japanese megabanks MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC are global leaders in financing LNG expansion, including Rio Grande LNG... These banks have no policies to rule out support for new and expanded methane gas projects and they have no policies to incentivise client transition away from problematic fossil fuels...
According to the report, Asian banks also lag behind their European peers on climate and human rights policies.
These methane projects will harm local low-income communities and wildlife with incredible pollution... Japanese companies must stop supporting these LNG projects so that they will be canceled once and for all.Bekah Hinojosa, Co-Founder, South Texas Environmental Justice Network
To reach a liveable climate, financial institutions must phase out financing for fossil fuels... Japan’s financial reach when it comes to LNG/methane stretches far beyond the Gulf. Japan is the world’s largest provider of international public finance for LNG export capacity...