’No ethics? No wifi,’ protest group says as it calls for ’immediate end to support for new fossil fuel projects’
Major insurers are said to have experienced wifi failures after being targeted by protest group Shut The System.
The group said on Instagram yesterday (20 January 2025) that it had cut the fibre optic cables of ”hundreds” of insurance companies in its latest round of protests.
Lloyd’s of London, which has over 50 insurance companies and more than 380 registered Lloyd’s brokers, as well as the Walkie Talkie, which is where firms such as Ascot, Markel and Tokio Marine Kiln are based, were among buildings targeted in London.
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Shut The System also said that it had targeted the offices of insurers in other parts of London and the UK as well, with Axa, AIG, Chubb and Chaucer among firms listed by the group.
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The group said it had disrupted the wifi as it wanted an “immediate end to support for new fossil fuel projects and mandatory transition plans for all clients involved in the fossil fuel industry”.
It added: “No ethics? No wifi. Insurance companies headquartered at some of the most iconic UK skyscrapers experience wifi failures after Shut The System activists cut fibre optic cables.”
Insurance Times has contacted firms for a comment on the disruption they may have faced.
Other protest
This comes after Extinction Rebellion (XR) occupied one of Marsh’s UK offices earlier this month (9 January 2025).
Read: Extinction Rebellion occupy office of Top 50 broker in latest protest
Read: Climate protesters list 2025 demands to insurance industry
Explore more insurer-related content here, or discover other news stories here
The protest was related to fossil fuels, with protesters calling for the support of such projects to be ended.
In a post on X, XR’s northern arm said: “Local residents are occupying the office lobby in Manchester to ask Marsh to stop ‘funding our destruction’ by insuring fossil fuel projects and instead ‘insure our future’ by moving towards a green economy.”
Meanwhile, Isabelle L’Héritier, European co-coordinator at Insure Our Future, alleged that some insurers’ actions were hindering progress toward reducing emissions and transitioning to renewable energy.
She warned that if they “refuse to stop supporting the expansion of fossil fuels”, the group will “hold them accountable”.
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism.
He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.View full Profile
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