Call end to Japanese fossil fuel financing in Asia

Call end to Japanese fossil fuel financing in Asia
Protesters march in Manila on June 24. Photo: UCAN/Elmer Valenzuela

MANILA (UCAN): Activists marched through the streets of Manila, the Philippines on June 24, calling on Japanese financial institutions to stop funding fossil fuel projects in Asia that exacerbate the global climate crisis.

The climate march, opposing fossil fuel expansion, aimed to bring global attention to the issue as Japanese banks such as Mizuho, SMBC, MUFG and energy giant, JERA, held their annual general meetings, according to Aaron Pedrosa, a lawyer and climate activist. 

About 150 demonstrators who joined the march criticised Japan’s “aggressive push for coal and gas projects” in Asian countries, including the Philippines, Pedrosa said.

Despite facing widespread criticism, Japanese banks and companies continue to disregard the call for the end of fossil fuel financing and expansion, said Jing Rey Henderson, head of the ecology programme at Caritas Philippines.

Henderson pointed to the example of an oil spill from a Japanese-owned ship, MT Princess Empress, in February 2023. The ship, carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel, sank at the Verde Island Passage, a vital centre of marine shore fish diversity.

“The oil spills haven’t been properly cleaned up. At least 10 million fisherfolk are affected, within the Verde Island Passage and surrounding islands,” she said.

She added that this is just an example of a lack of commitment from Japanese companies to protect the environment to tackle fast-paced climate change.

Henderson also criticised the Philippine government for failing to reduce its reliance on and investments in fossil fuels, saying that about 60 per cent of power is generated from coal and natural gas.

“This makes electricity expensive and not affordable to all, because coal itself is expensive,” she added.

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Liddy Nacpil, coordinator of the advocacy group, Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development, said that they continue to confront Japan’s megabanks and energy giants like JERA, which fund “dirty energy projects across the region.”

Nacpil said in a June 24 statement, “Every coal unit, every new gas pipeline and import terminal that Japan helps fund pushes our region further away from climate safety and deeper into environmental collapse. These investments are not solutions—they are accelerants of climate breakdown and severely threaten our ability to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.”

Citing a Banking on Climate Chaos 2024 report, Nacpil said that Japanese banks are among the top fossil fuel financiers in the world.

“Mizuho ranked No. 2 globally for total fossil fuel financing [US$37 billion in 2023] and funding companies engaged in fossil fuel expansion, committing US$18.8 billion. MUFG wasn’t far behind at No. 3, lending US$15.4 billion for fossil fuel expansion,” Nacpil added.

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