#StopSumitomo: international campaign to stop Japan’s Coal Power in Bangladesh

Fridays for Future Japan and Fridays For Future Bangladesh have collaboratively launched an international campaign to stop Sumitomo Corporation & JICA from building the Matarbari Coal Power Plant in Bangladesh.

In a joint symposium last Friday, activists and environmental scientists warned of Sumitomo Corporation’s and JICA’s inadequacy in climate change commitment and their threat to human lives. Speakers include representatives from Fridays For Future Climate Justice Project, Fridays For Future MAPA (Most Affected People and Areas), National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society and NGO Mighty Earth.

This is a climate justice fight against Sumitomo Corporation and JICA taking away livelihoods and lives in Bangladesh. The Matarbari Coal Power Plant at Cox’s Bazar will threaten 20,000 people to lose their land, home, and jobs. It also threatens the people with worse flooding dangers and toxicity, which may claim 14,000 lives (from Phase 1 of the coal plant, slated to begin in 2024). The campaign hopes to drive enough awareness and attention to stop the Matarbari Coal Power Project within the year.

The Matarbari Coal Power Plant is not the only project which endangers the climate crisis, the environment, and human lives. Sumitomo Corporation has destructive projects across Asia, for example, Van Phong 1 Coal-fired Power Project in Vietnam, which is likely to cause 1,900 premature deaths. Such acts not only undermine other countries’ commitment to shift towards renewable energy it also sullies Japan’s growth through dirty energy investments.

Climate Action in the Asia Pacific area is often considered slow compared to their western counterparts. Now organizations like Sumitomo Corporation and JICA are taking steps backward on the region’s behalf.

“The organization we are fighting against is one of the biggest trading companies in Japan, and there is a huge amount of money moving behind the Matarbari Coal Power Plant. This fight [for climate justice] may not be easy, but we can no longer forgive the robbing of Bangladesh’s vitality and livelihood or the acceleration of the climate crisis,” climate justice activist Kentaro Yamamoto reminded us.

In the first step of this campaign, Fridays For Future Climate Justice Project and Fridays For Future Bangladesh are petitioning on change.org. If you would like to say no to the construction of the Matarbari Coal Power Plant, you can add your signature here.