Image credit: Linda Walker
On Friday, March 1, a group of 200 activists took to the streets of Manchester’s business district in a peaceful protest against the insurance sector’s role in supporting fossil fuel projects.
The march included stops at the offices of AIG, Hiscox, Tokio Marine, and Chubb, where campaigners staged street theatre performances, as part of Insure Our Future’s ‘Global Week of Action’ that ran until March 3.
Led by Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace Manchester, and Friends of the Earth, the action focussed on the planned East African Crude Oil Pipeline and the proposed coalmine in West Cumbria. Following the event, it was revealed that local protesters in Manchester have their sights set on the upcoming BIBA (British Insurance Brokers’ Association) Conference 2024.
“In May Manchester will host the BIBA conference at Manchester Central, the UK insurance industry’s largest gathering, which will be another opportunity for campaigners to lobby the industry,” the group said in an emailed release over the weekend.
“The insurance industry is an unusual target for environmental campaigners as this is an industry that understands the risk of climate change, sometimes better than we do,” Greenpeace coordinator Martin Porter said. “There’s no denial here, like there still is in some parts of the fossil fuel business.
“However, insurance is often the final piece of the jigsaw to get large oil and gas projects off the ground; it’s integral to the whole process. But at the same time the industry is telling governments they can’t continue to insure everybody against the risks of climate change, such as flooding. In some ways our job is just to say, ‘Listen to yourselves. You can’t have it both ways.’”
Insure Our Future is an advocacy coalition comprising non-government organisations and social movements that are calling on the insurance industry to stop backing fossil fuels. Last week’s series of global protests kicked off with a Mothers Rise Up theatrical demonstration outside the Lloyd’s headquarters in London.
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