Extinction Rebellion activists block headquarters of Lloyd’s of London in the City
Climate activists are protesting outside the office of Lloyd’s of London in the City this morning, dumping fake coal outside in front of the building as part of a campaign against insuring fossil fuel mining activities.
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group are holding up banners with slogans such as “Climate Criminals” after they dumped a pile of blackened boulders outside Lloyd’s building on Lime Street, in the heart of the Square Mile.
Using a tipper truck to offload the rubble outside the City insurer’s headquarters, the climate activists also placed placards reading “we are the dead canaries” and “do not insure the West Cumbria coal mine.”
It comes as HSBC’s Canary Wharf headquarters were targeted yesterday, which saw its windows smashed. The bank since said that it welcomed discussion on climate change but that it could not ‘condone vandalism’.
Extinction Rebellion has said that this morning’s demonstration formed part of Insurance Rebellion, a new network of activist groups including Extinction Rebellion UK, protesting role of the insurance industry in fuelling the climate crisis.
The group confirmed the protest was intended to highlight Lloyd’s financing of polluting projects, like tar sands and coal mines – including the UK’s controversial Cumbria coal mine.
“Every day that Lloyd’s continues to insure fossil fuel projects we move one step closer to climate breakdown,” Insurance Rebellion member called Harriet said, adding that “fossil fuel companies are destroying our planet, causing millions of people’s homes to be flooded, burnt to the ground in wildfires, and reclaimed by rising sea levels.”
“We have to stop fossil fuels now before the climate emergency becomes any worse. Fossil fuel companies can’t run without insurance, so let’s stop insuring them.”