For immediate release: Thursday, August 29, 2019
PHOTOS: Protesters Target Insurance Giant AIG Over Adani Coal Mine
106,384 petition signatures handed over at the insurer’s Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane offices calling for the American company to rule out insuring the controversial mine
SYDNEY – On Thursday, protesters descended on the Australian offices of insurance giant AIG, demanding that the company rule out backing Adani Group’s proposed Carmicheal coal mine.
The Adani mine has been the object of years-long controversy in Australia and around the world, given the myriad of environmental, climate, and social risks associated with the massive thermal coal project. Following key government approvals and purported plans to self-finance the entirety of the mine, insurance remains a crucial source of financial support required for the mine to move forward.
Organizers handed over more than 106,300 petition signatures calling for AIG to join the 14 other insurers who have directly refused to insure the project or whose climate policies rule it out.
Protesters gathered inside the lobby of the company’s Sydney offices, as mobile billboards circled inner Sydney and protesters in Melbourne and Brisbane staged demonstrations outside local AIG offices.
A coalition of groups, including three of those behind today’s protest – SumOfUs, Market Forces, and Rainforest Action Network – have previously targeted AIG rival Liberty Mutual, which confirmed last month that it had turned down an offer to insure the project.
View PHOTOS here: http://bit.ly/AIG_photos
View the PETITION here: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/
“Insurance companies like AIG hold the golden ticket Adani needs. Without insurance Adani is left in an impossible position,” said SumOfUs Campaign Manager, Nick Haines. “Fourteen insurance companies have already ruled out underwriting Adani’s mine, which makes AIG’s silence stand out. AIG has a chance to be on the right side of history. We are calling on CEO Brian Duperreault to draw a line in the sand and rule out insuring Adani.”
Elana Sulakshana, Energy Finance Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network, said: “Across Europe and Australia, insurance companies are ruling out support for coal, but U.S. insurers are lagging behind. Only one U.S. company has taken steps away from coal, and AIG could still back this disastrous new coal mine. Without insurance, companies like Adani cannot continue to wreck the planet and trample on Indigenous rights. People around the world are calling on AIG to take responsibility for its role in the climate crisis and stop insuring coal and tar sands.”
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SumOfUs.org is a global movement of consumers, investors, and workers all around the world, united together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable and just path for our global economy.
Rainforest Action Network Rainforest Action Network preserves forests, protects the climate and upholds human rights by challenging corporate power and systemic injustice through frontline partnerships and strategic campaigns.