Lloyd’s members urged to attend virtually because of the ‘significant risk’ indicating that activists will disrupt the meeting
Insurance market Lloyd’s of London is pleading with members to watch its annual general meeting from home next week, amid worries that it will be the latest City event disorganized by climate protests.
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, the chair of Lloyd’s cautioned about the potential disturbance at the May 19 AGM back in April but said in the latest memo that the risk of disruption has greatly increased.
Brown said in a notice aimed at the market’s close to 100 syndicate members:
“To ensure the safety and security of our members and to allow the meeting to proceed in an orderly and fair manner, it is with regret that I must now strongly encourage all members attending the AGM to join virtually and not to attempt to enter the Lloyd’s Building on that day.”
The warning came up almost a month after Lloyd’s was forced to close the doors of its landmark Grade I-listed building at One Lime Street when over sixty protesters from Extinction Rebellion (XR) used bicycle locks, chains, and superglue to restrict workers from going in.
Lloyd’s has promised that members will terminate all existing insurance policies for fossil fuel projects by 2030, but activists say the policy does achieve much.
A spokesperson for XR said:
“We are committed to nonviolently disrupting business as usual until Lloyd’s of London ends its underwriting of fossil fuels. Instead of trying to hide from public anger by shifting their AGM online, Lloyd’s needs to be brave, take bold action, and stop insuring morally hazardous projects.”
XR alleges that its protests were already triggering change, with two Lloyd’s syndicates severing ties with Canada’s controversial Trans Mountain pipeline since April. A series of City institutions, including Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered, have seen their AGMs disrupted by climate protesters last month.
Activists at Standard Chartered’s AGM shouted and wore masks depicting chief executive, Bill Winters, with devil horns as part of efforts to give a warning over the banking group’s climate track record. In the meantime, protesters were roughly removed from Barclay’s AGM in Manchester after setting off alarms, gluing themselves on chairs, and delaying the start of the event for nearly an hour.
Lindsay Keenan, European coordinator of the Insure Our Future climate campaign, stated:
“Lloyd’s faces a growing level of protests because, as the world’s largest insurance market, they have a responsibility to act in accordance with climate science and the recommendations of the IEA [International Energy Agency] – and they are failing to do so.”
“Despite what Bruce Carnegie-Brown would like you to believe, the reality is that Lloyd’s continues to provide insurance for new coal, oil and gas projects despite its supposed ESG [environmental, social and governance] policy.”
Lloyd’s failed to immediately respond to the request for comment.
