Insure our survival: the protest outside insurers’ offices at East Croydon was calling on them to stop enabling ‘toxic industries’, such as fossil fuels, the arms trade and genocide
Commuters on their way to work at East Croydon yesterday morning saw London’s summer of protests arrive on their own doorstep as local activists joined thousands protesting across the globe to disrupt insurance giants AXA, Allianz and AIG.
Plumes pink smoke shrouded the AIG building opposite the station, part of “Insure Our Survival”, a two-week global campaign which in Croydon is backed by Extinction Rebellion.
From New Zealand to Africa and the Americas, activists targeted around the world insurers offices with blockades, art-led protests and what they called “creative disruptions” (the mind boggles…).
Red hands: US-owned multi-billion corporation AIG ought to be insured for any damage caused to their street sign
In Croydon, protesters shut down AIG’s branch with banners reading “Insuring Genocide” and “Carbon Bombs Kill”. They had earlier projected the image of a suited and booted businessperson, wearing a gas mask, on to the building.
On the other side of the tracks, outside Allianz’s office on George Street, the protestors sat with handwritten signs saying “I oppose Genocide, Boycott Allianz”.
Members of the public waiting to catch the tram heard a loud drums band and were handed flyers explaining the allegations against the multi-national finance firms, who are accused of insuring a series of projects which have poisoned rivers, displaced families and destroy forests, all the while hastening the pace of climate collapse.
“From the shores of Gaza to the streets of London, we are united against the corporations that insure both climate collapse and genocide,” said one activist.
“Allianz and AIG enable Israel’s blockade and bombardment, and profit from the destruction of our planet’s life support systems. We will not let them hide.”
Another said: “Today we showed that people in Croydon won’t stand by while Allianz and AIG bankroll destruction. This is just the start — we will keep up the pressure until these companies stop insuring climate chaos and war.”
The campaign has called for a boycott of AIG, and all their sub-brands, warning that Aviva and Allianz will be next if they continue to bankroll fossil fuels and genocide.
AIG, or American International Group Inc, with headquarters in Manhattan, has operations in more than 80 countries, employed 25,000 people. Last year, AIG reported a turnover of $27billion.
The organisers of yesterday’s protest in central Croydon say that their actions should send a clear message: without insurance, fossil fuel and arms industries cannot operate.
They said, “Unlike arms and fossil fuel companies, insurance companies don’t need to support destruction to make money. They also understand risk.
Masked protest: the protestors are calling for global insurers such as Allianz to stop supporting fossil fuel interests and arms companies
“Insure Our Survival demands that underwriters stop enabling toxic industries: fossil fuels, the arms trade and genocide.
“They all have an incredible power to halt the death and destruction but instead support it in secret.
“We won’t stop campaigning until they start setting policy to stay within the ‘safe operating space for humanity’ as quantified by the Planetary Boundaries team at the Potsdam Institute.
“Only then will insurers begin to ensure our survival.”
And Andrew Taylor, a campaigner for Boycott Bloody Insurance, said: “It is more than a matter of ethics. It is a matter of global justice, freedom and the survival of all life.”
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