​Extinction Rebellion occupy insurance offices in protest

Extinction Rebellion (XR) have occupied the offices of insurance firms as part of a protest today (27 February 2024).

Teams of protestors in business dress accessed the lobbies of Tokio Marine, Probitas, Travelers and Talbot at 8.30am.

They are set to stay put until company bosses agree to listen to their concerns about insuring projects that protesters claim could cause a “climate breakdown”.

Liz Pendleton, who is one of the protestors at the sit-in, said: “We are here to engage constructively with insurance bosses.

“We’re staying until they come down and talk to us.”

Projects

Projects protestors are concerned about include the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) and the West Cumbria coal mine project.

Eacop is a pipeline that is set to transport oil produced from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.

The official Eacop website states that the new corridor linking the two countries ”will bring benefits, including the development of new infrastructure, logistics, technology transfer as well as improving the livelihoods of communities along the route”.

Meanwhile, the Woodhouse Colliery scheme, which is operated by West Cumbria Mining (WCM), was signed off by the government back in December 2022.

In a statement when the application was granted, WCM said it would deliver the “world’s first net zero mine supplying the critical steel industry with a high-quality metallurgical coal product”.

However, Pendleton said the insurance industry had a “unique opportunity to immediately halt” such projects.

“Projects like the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline and the West Cumbria coal mine will cause climate breakdown,” Pendleton added.

“It’s very simple. No insurance equals no drilling. No insurance equals no digging. So these companies have a superpower that could give us all a fighting chance of a liveable future.”