MANILA — Climate advocates gathered in Manila yesterday to confront what they described as the “villains of the climate crisis”—Japanese megabanks and energy companies fueling an “unprecedented wave” of fossil fuel expansion across Asia.
Makati’s business district became the stage for a symbolic protest where activists restrained anime-style “villains” with ropes to represent public resistance to Japan’s continued financing of fossil fuels, which they say is accelerating climate destruction.
The mobilization—organized by the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), the Asian Energy Network (AEN), the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Sanlakas, and other APMDD member groups—coincided with the Annual General Meetings of Japan’s largest megabanks: MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho, as well as energy giant JERA. It formed part of a region-wide protest against Japanese public and private corporations’ involvement in fossil fuel expansion across Asia.
Coordinated actions were also held in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, where people’s organizations condemned Japan’s aggressive push for coal and gas projects in their countries—made possible by billions in financing from Japanese megabanks and public institutions.
“We are confronting the real villains of the climate crisis—Japan’s megabanks and fossil giants like JERA, which continue to fund dirty energy projects across the region. These corporations are raking in big profits while our communities suffer. They must be held accountable for their fossil fuel financing, which destroys lives, livelihoods, and the environment,” said APMDD coordinator Lidy Nacpil.
“Every coal unit, every new gas pipeline, and import terminal that Japan helps fund pushes our region further 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,” Nacpil added.
“We refuse to be locked into any partnership that would condemn our region to decades more of devastating climate impacts and fossil fuel dependence. Japan’s megabanks—MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho—as well as energy giant JERA are enabling this destruction through massive financing of gas expansion in the Philippines and across Asia. True energy security lies in a rapid, equitable, and just transition to renewable energy—not in Japan’s toxic gas exports,” said PMCJ national coordinator Ian Rivera.
The Banking on Climate Chaos 2024 report revealed that Japanese banks are among the world’s worst fossil fuel financiers. Mizuho ranked No. 2 globally for total fossil fuel financing, providing $37 billion in 2023, including $18.8 billion to companies engaged in fossil fuel expansion. MUFG followed closely at No. 3, lending $15.4 billion for similar projects.
Japan’s 7th Strategic Energy Plan, released in February, labeled LNG a “realistic energy source” even beyond 2050. The plan encourages public-private cooperation for long-term fossil fuel investments—drawing criticism from climate groups for reinforcing a fossil-heavy development path and retreating from earlier (and already insufficient) decarbonization commitments.
Carrying banners with slogans like “Japan’s Energy Agenda: Threat to Energy Security in Asia,” APMDD and its partner groups issued the following demands to Japan’s megabanks—MUFG, Mizuho, and SMBC—as well as to JERA and government agencies like JBIC and JICA:
Immediately halt all new financing for fossil fuel infrastructure in Asia;
Withdraw support for LNG, ammonia co-firing, and other false solutions; and
Redirect investments toward renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, which are “scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable.” Doronio/ia/PAN
