MUFG: Stay away from Rio Grande LNG!

URGENT! MUFG has taken over as the financial advisor for the planned Rio Grande LNG export terminal in Brownsville, Texas — a project so bad for people and planet that eight other banks have either dropped out or publicly rejected it.

If built, Rio Grande LNG will violate Indigenous sovereignty and human rights, destroy precious wetlands and ecosystems, further pollute a primarily Latinx community already bearing the brunt of climate disasters and the fossil fuel industry, spew toxic methane emissions into our climate, and lock us all into decades more reliance on fossil fuels. Thanks to MUFG, contstruction could start at any moment, so we have to act fast.

Sign the petition using the form below — to be delivered alongside an open letter from The Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, additional frontline and grassroots communities, and climate and human rights organizations — calling on MUFG to defund this toxic project NOW.

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Dear Mr. Kamezawa,

If built, the Rio Grande LNG export terminal would violate Indigenous rights, exacerbate environmental racism, destroy healthy wetlands, and add millions of tons of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. These risks have been meticulously laid out in the report Rio Grande Valley: At Risk from Fracked-Gas Export Terminals.

The Rio Grande LNG export terminal is such a catastrophically bad idea that banks are even starting to refuse to finance the project. Société Générale recently stepped back as the main financial advisor to the project. They are the eighth bank to publicly commit to not financing the project due to environmental, social, and reputational concerns.

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that MUFG has taken over as the lead financial advisor for NextDecade as it seeks financing for the Rio Grande export terminal.

We are writing to urge MUFG to immediately end its relationship with NextDecade and the Rio Grande LNG export terminal.

Financing for this project comes with inherent risks for any banks involved in the project.

In 2016, banks financing the Dakota Access pipeline were subjected to hundreds of protests and civil society actions, including thousands of people closing their accounts and large institutional clients, such as cities, making high-profile commitments to move their money away from the banks financing the pipeline. In 2021, a similar campaign was launched against the banks financing the Line 3 pipeline.

With the concerns around Indigenous rights, environmental racism, wildlife protection, and climate impacts, any bank involved in the Rio Grande LNG terminal risks subjecting itself to similar scrutiny from civil society.

As thousands of people who are deeply concerned about the social and environmental impact of the Rio Grande LNG terminal, we join the call for you to meet with Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal representatives, and with local and international leadership from the Rio Grande Valley.

And we urge you to end your relationship with NextDecade and the Rio Grande LNG export terminal.