By Rainforest Action Network

RAN’s Climate and Energy Program is focused on stopping the build-out of methane infrastructure at its most critical point: the U.S. Gulf Coast. Currently, RAN and partners are working to block terminal expansion for methane — commonly called liquified natural gas, or LNG — in Southwest Louisiana and also supporting frontline resistance to these projects in Freeport and Brownsville, Texas. No fossil fuel project can operate without financing or insurance. That is why RAN exposes the connections between Wall Street banks and insurers and the human rights violations that result from their support of dirty fossil fuel projects. Together, we can help stop the biggest fossil fuel build-out of our lifetime.

Solomon Williams Jr., multigenerational Cameron Fisherman; James Wyatt, For A Better Bayou; Jae Williams, oyster fishing family, in front of Cameron LNG tanks

Recent wins show our strategy is working. Last year, insurance giant Chubb quietly dropped coverage for the Rio Grande methane project in Brownsville, following the major financiers who backed out1. This year, a Chubb subsidiary stopped providing $1.5 billion in property insurance for Venture Global’s CP1 terminal in Louisiana2, which signals growing momentum that locals are using to pressure the insurer to also drop Cameron LNG in the same area. Freeport communities are also demanding that Chubb walk away from Freeport LNG, the site of a major 2022 explosion3. Victories and momentum building demonstrates the power of coordinated community pressure on insurers.

Our Banks campaign is scoping targets for the full methane lifecycle: from fracking in the Permian Basin (located in the U.S.) to export for overseas consumption. Wells Fargo, a top Permian financier, recently rolled back its climate policies in alignment with the position of the current administration4. This bank plays a central role in funding fracked gas that fuels Gulf Coast terminals5. As our networks pivot to focus on Wells Fargo, our team is nimbly responding to support this effort and make the bank an example of what happens when the financial sector tries to sacrifice the communities of their customers for fossil clients.

On February 27, 2024 climate activists marched down 6th Ave in Manhattan, stopping at AIG, Chubb, and Tokio Marine offices with a clear message: Insure Our Future, not fossil fuels. The demonstration comes just days after a report exposed the 35 different insurance companies supporting oil and gas projects across the U.S. Gulf South. (Photo by Erik McGregor)

 

As we pressure corporations to change their behavior, we’re also supporting grassroots resistance in the Philippines, where over 40 planned methane import terminals threaten to lock the country into decades of fossil fuel dependence6. This push endangers the Verde Island Passage—one of the world’s most biodiverse marine areas, often called the “Amazon of the Oceans.” Expanding fossil fuel activity here threatens ecosystems, communities, and pushes back on global climate goals. RAN’s Japan team is key to this effort, as half of all fossil fuel financing from Japanese banks goes to corporations in the U.S.

The Gulf is the epicenter of the largest fossil fuel expansion of our lifetime, with over 25 proposed LNG export terminals7. Preventing terminals means cleaner air for Gulf communities, reduced fracking harm in the Permian basin in the central U.S., and sovereignty for Southeast Asian nations freeing themselves from being locked into U.S. gas dependency. 

Our insurance and finance campaigns are working. By forcing financiers and insurers to walk away, we’re proving that people-powered movements can stop these projects. Each site fight is a way to halt the methane sector’s expansion and to break the fossil fuel industry’s grip on our future. Our goal is bold but necessary: end fossil fuel expansion. Targeting the Wall Street backers behind methane is the first step.

  1. Kruse, Tyler. “Chubb Drops Rio Grande LNG Insurance.” Insure Our Future US, 6 Aug. 2024, https://us.insure-our-future.com/chubb-drops-rio-grande-lng-insurance/
  2. Gopal, Keerti. “Insurance Giant Drops Contested Louisiana LNG Export Project.” InsideClimateNews, 16 May 2025, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16052025/insurance-giant-drops-contested-louisiana-lng-export-project/.
  3. “Freeport LNG Incident – June 2022.” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/resources/project-directory/freeport-lng-incident-june-2022.
  4. Mirza, Zoya. “Wells Fargo Scraps Net‑Zero Target as Banks Recalibrate Sustainability Strategy.” ESG Dive, 3 Mar. 2025, https://www.esgdive.com/news/wells-fargo-scraps-net-zero-target-as-banks-rethink-sustainability/741402/
  5. “Fracking Fiasco: New Report Names Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase as Main Players Funding U.S. Shale Bust.” Oil Change International, https://oilchange.org/news/fracking-fiasco-banks-that-fueled-the-us-shale-bust/.
  6. “Verde Island Passage in Danger as LNG Projects Flock to Batangas.” PCIJ, 7 Mar. 2023, https://pcij.org/2023/03/07/verde-island-passage-in-danger-as-lng-projects-flock-to-batangas/.
  7. Heureaux‑Torres, Johanna, and Alison Kirsch. U.S. LNG Export Tracker. Sierra Club, n.d., https://www.sierraclub.org/dirty-fuels/us-lng-export-tracker.