NCIO challenges Japanese Bank: don’t fund Oakland coal terminal

In the last couple of days, two major Japanese banks have announced that they are limiting their investment in coal. This is of particular significance for No Coal in Oakland, as one of these banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), has been in discussion about providing financing for the construction of the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) as a coal terminal to ship four million tons of Utah coal to the Japanese energy company JERA. Japan has been increasing its consumption of coal as it has retired nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster. SMBC is the third largest bank in Japan. Its new policy calls for the “cons...