Gulf Coast Community Leaders visit Tokyo to demand that Japan’s financial institutions stop supporting dirty fossil fuel projects that threaten their health, culture, economy and wildlife.
October 7th, 2024 (Tokyo, Japan) — For the first time, activists from the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, are traveling to Japan and meeting with Japanese megabanks and an insurance company associated with the LNG/methane projects in the southern Gulf Coast region of the United States.
Juan Mancias, Tribal Chair, Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas; Bekah Hinojosa, Co-Founder, South Texas Environmental Justice Network, and Dina Nuñez, Senior Organizer, South Texas Human Rights Center and Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera, will join Rainforest Action Network to meet with representatives from Japanese insurance company and Japanese megabanks like MUFG to discuss the support from these companies for massive LNG/methane projects that are poised to destroy ancestral homelands, decimate eco-tourism in the region, and threaten endangered species.
“These companies are trying to occupy this land — all for fossil fuel riches. These projects will ruin our air, pollute our water, and desecrate our ancestral lands. They want to destroy this land — but to do that they will have to destroy our people. And we won’t allow that. We won’t be intimidated anymore.”
— Juan Mancias.
Japanese megabanks MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC are global leaders in financing LNG expansion, including Rio Grande LNG. According to the report Banking on Climate Chaos (BOCC), these banks are among the top 10 banks in the world financing fossil fuels. These banks have no policies to rule out support for new and expanded methane gas projects and they have no policies to incentivise client transition away from problematic fossil fuels. This is in contrast to the new policy released by Dutch Bank, ING, which outlines a phase out of LNG/methane investments by 2026; and a policy from Le Bank Postale which will halt all fossil fuel investments as of 2022. According to the report, Asian banks also lag behind their European peers on climate and human rights policies.
“These methane projects will harm local low-income communities and wildlife with incredible pollution. That is undeniable. And our community has already won a lawsuit against these projects — but Rio Grande LNG is still pouring concrete and clear cutting sacred wildlife lands because of legal loopholes. Japanese companies must stop supporting these LNG projects so that they will be canceled once and for all.”
— Bekah Hinojosa.
To reach a liveable climate, financial institutions must phase out financing for fossil fuels. According to BOCC, banks are moving in the wrong direction with financing USD $705.8 billion towards fossil fuels in 2023. USD $120.9 billion went to LNG/methane expansion projects. The delegation of key stakeholders in LNG/methane facilities in the Rio Grande region will travel to Tokyo to demand that top financial institutions stop funding these fossil fuel projects.
“Thanks to the strong organization and the strong people in our communities, we have already seen a good decision from Washington, D.C., to halt these permits. We know we can defeat these giants, like Rio Grande LNG. And now we are asking Japanese companies to make a good decision. We are asking them to stop their funding and support of these extractive and harmful projects.”
— Dina Nuñez.
Japan’s financial reach when it comes to LNG/methane stretches far beyond the Gulf. Japan is the world’s largest provider of international public finance for LNG export capacity, accounting for roughly 50% of global public finance for LNG/methane export terminals built from 2012-2022 and terminals currently under construction or set to be completed by 2026. Japan is also one of the world’s top public financiers for methane gas, spending an average of $4.3 billion per year.
###