Activists hold banners as they stand next to fake coal
(Picture: REUTERS)Climate change activists have dumped a pile of fake coal outside Lloyd’s of London in a protest against the fossil fuel industry.
Extinction Rebellion protesters used a tipper truck to deposit the rubble outside the insurance giant.
Activists held up banners reading “climate criminals”, “fossil fuels=death” and “insuring fossil fuels=ensuring climate breakdown”.
Protesters also placed safety barriers around the area and raised placards that read “stop Adani”.
Demonstrators have accused Lloyd’s of underwriting polluting projects, such as tar sands and coal mines.
They say Lloyd’s has refused to rule out underwriting the highly controversial Adani coal mine in Queensland, Australia, which activists believe will destroy Aboriginal land.
Extinction Rebellion said Friday morning’s demonstration was part of Insurance Rebellion, a network of activists, which aims to highlight the role of the insurance industry in fuelling the climate and ecological crisis.
One member of the group, Harriet, 28, told the Independent: “Every day that Lloyd’s continues to insure fossil fuel projects we move one step closer to climate breakdown.
“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,” she added.
The Lloyd’s protest comes just one day after several female demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion smashed windows of HSBC’s headquarters in Canary Wharf.
Extinction Rebellion activists drop coal in front of Lloyds building to condemn the insurance of the West Cumbria coal mine.#xr #london #lloyds #moneyrebellion @xrebellionuk @extinctionrebellion @xr_london #coal pic.twitter.com/j3ok4K2Muc
— Joao Daniel Pereira (@joaodanielper) April 23, 2021
The women used hammers to crack the windows before staging a sitdown protest at around 7am on Thursday.
Nine people were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police said.
The activists wore patches stating “better broken windows than broken promises”, in reference to the suffragettes.
