A week long series of protests over the Insurance industry’s role in the underwriting of fossil fuel risks came to an end yesterday with the campaigners saying its message must be heard.

Over the weekend two hundred people marched through the business district of Manchester in the UK calling on the insurance industry not to back fossil fuel projects.

Campaigners from Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace Manchester and Friends of the Earth visited the offices of AIG, Hiscox, Tokio Marine and Chubb insurance companies to demand they take immediate action to slow the climate crisis and support the urgent transition from dangerous fossil fuels to clean energy. The protests were peaceful and involved some street theatre at each location.

Campaigners said in particular, the Manchester action focussed on two new fossil fuel projects: the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline in Uganda and Tanzania, and the proposed West Cumbrian Coalmine in Whitehaven.

The campaigners said if either of these two projects were to go ahead it would make it increasingly difficult to stop global temperatures rising beyond a level where human life is possible.

Spokesperson Martin Porter said: “The insurance industry is an unusual target for environmental campaigners as this is an industry that understands the risk of climate change, sometimes better than we do. There’s no denial here, like there still is in some parts of the fossil fuel business. However, insurance is often the final piece of the jigsaw to get large oil and gas projects off the ground; it’s integral to the whole process. But at the same time the industry is telling governments they can’t continue to insure everybody against the risks of climate change, such as flooding. In some ways our job is just to say ‘listen to yourselves. You can’t have it both ways.’”

However the campaigners said they will be back out in force in in May when the city will host the BIBA (British Insurance Brokers Association) conference at Manchester Central, the UK insurance industry’s largest gathering.

Speaking in Zurich Peter Bosshard coordinator of the international Insure Our Future campaign said the industry had to react to the growing outcry over the coverage of fossil fuel projects.

“The fossil fuel industry is destroying our planet,” he said. “After us the deluge, is their motto!

“The expansion of fossil fuel extraction would not be possible without insurance.”

He said  the group was in the Swiss City to call out the activities of Zurich Insurance Group.

“Whenever we find information about who is insuring coal and oil projects, Zurich is involved,” he added. “We estimate Zurich’s coal, oil and gas insurance business to be worth $600 million a year. This puts Zurich in sixth place among all insurance companies worldwide.”

He added Allianz, AXA, Generali and other large insurance companies no longer do such business.

“The city of Zurich takes its responsibility for climate protection seriously,” Bosshard explained. “It is committed to becoming climate neutral by 2040, and by 2035 for its own administration. Zurich’s voters have supported these goals with a clear majority of 75 percent.”

Campaigners from Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace Manchester and Friends of the Earth visited the offices of AIG, Hiscox, Tokio Marine and Chubb insurance companies to demand they take immediate action to slow the climate crisis and support the urgent transition from dangerous fossil fuels to clean energy.