JBIC and Private Banks Must Reconsider Decision to Finance LNG Canada Project

(Friends of the Earth Japan, Tokyo, 29 October 2021) The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a public financial institution fully owned by the Government of Japan, announced in a press release today that it has decided to provide up to US $850 million for the LNG Canada Project. The LNG Canada project plans to liquefy shale gas extracted from Montney, British Columbia and transported through its 670 km Coastal Gaslink pipeline to Kitimat for export to Asian markets.The decision by JBIC ahead of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) starting from the end of this week in Glasgow, England, goes against the call by the UK government to stop public financing for fossil fuels, and shows that Japan's approach to climate change is still far from that of the rest of the world. It is inevitable that Japan will once again become the target of criticism from the international community. Serious violations of indigenous peoples rights have been pointed out in an associated project of the LNG Canada project. We strongly condemn JBIC's decision to provide financing, disregarding the impact on climate change and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, and call on involved operators and financial institutions to immediately withdraw from the project.