Last checked at 
* Activists protest outside Lloyd's of London
* Activists says Lloyd's insures fossil fuel mining
* Particular anger over huge Australian coal mine
* Lloyd's says it is moving toward more sustainable market
(Adds Lloyd's comment)
By Natalie Thomas and Henry Nicholls
LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Climate activists dumped fake
coal outside Lloyd's of London's headquarters on Friday,
targeting the global insurer in a protest against the industry's
backing for major fossil fuel mining projects including a giant
mine in Australia.
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group unfurled
banners with slogans including "Climate Criminals" and dumped
the blackened boulders in the road outside the building on Lime
Street in the heart of the City of London.
The group said that Lloyd's facilitated the fossil fuel
industry.
"The dumped coal highlighted Lloyd's support for the most
polluting projects – tar sands and coal mines," notably Adani
Enterprises' giant Carmichael thermal coal mine in
Australia, Extinction Rebellion said in a statement.
Lloyd's, the world's leading insurance and reinsurance
marketplace, said it was committed to accelerating its
transition towards "a more sustainable insurance and reinsurance
marketplace".
"We are actively involved in constructive engagement on the
issue of climate change and continue to explore the ways in
which Lloyd’s can support a responsible transition," a Lloyd’s
spokesman said.
Some major Lloyd's insurers have ruled out insuring the
Carmichael mine, from which Adani plans to start producing 10
million tonnes of coal per year from 2021.
Lloyd's has asked members to stop providing new insurance
cover for thermal coal, oil sands, or new Arctic energy
exploration from Jan. 1, 2022, with a target of 2030 to phase
out the renewal of existing cover.
Extinction Rebellion wants to prompt a wider revolt against
the world's political, economic and social structures to avert
the worst scenarios of devastation outlined by scientists
studying climate change.
Activists from the group smashed the window frontage of
HSBC's headquarters in Canary Wharf on Thursday and two
weeks ago shattered windows at Barclays.
On Thursday, the United States and other major
industrialised countries hiked their targets for slashing
greenhouse gas emissions at an Earth Day global climate summit
hosted by President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Natalie Thomas, Henry Nicholls and Carolyn Cohn
Writing by Guy Faulconbridge
Editing by Alistair Smout, John Stonestreet and Frances Kerry)
