Protestors splatter fake blood across insurance offices

Protestors have splattered fake blood across three insurance offices as part of a protest today (29 February 2024).

The protestors, which were from recently formed climate group Shut the Sytem, targeted the Tokio Marine, AIG and Zurich London offices in the early hours and left a fire extingusher at the scene.

The group made the move following the news that global warming exceeded 1.5C across an entire year, breaching the Paris Agreement’s target.

It also said it had concerns about firms insuring what it claims are fossil fuel projects and warned that it “would be back” if worries were not listened to.

“Insurance companies have the power to stop new fossil fuel projects from going ahead and releasing millions more tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” a protestor said.

”Fossil fuel companies cannot begin work without insurance. Coal, oil and gas are being extracted in the name of profit and greed. The consequences will be disastrous for humanity.

”Insurers have the power to change this. If not, we will be back.”

Other protest

This came after Extinction Rebellion (XR) occupied the offices Tokio Marine, Probitas, Travelers and Talbot earlier in the week (27 February 2024).

It came following concerns about 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, Liz Pendleton, who was one of the protestors at the sit-in, said: “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.”