Meet Eri, 350's climate campaigner in Japan. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Hi John -

Sometimes, little things can spark change – inside us and in the world. That happened to me some time ago. I was born and raised in Japan, where I also live nowadays. When I was a university student, I had the opportunity to travel to some countries in South East Asia. It was one of my first experiences out of my country, and I fell in love with nature and the people living there. But this is not a story about tourism. This is a story about activism.

One day after I was back home while attending a lecture in my Uni, I got to know about mega projects funded by the Japanese government and corporations which cause harm to the people and nature in Indonesia. The people and the places I loved so dearly were being threatened by something I could have influence over. That was my spark. I immediately knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to be the bridge between the people on the ground and the Japanese stakeholders, and to create positive change wherever I can. And that's what I do everyday.

This last year was full of wins for us at 350 Japan. We've put a lot of energy into trying to stop the money and support of Japanese banks and companies for fossil fuels projects around the world. And we are seeing quite a lot of progress!

Standing action in front of annual shareholders meeting of SMBC Group. © Taishi Takahashi / 350.org Japan

We led a coalition working with shareholder activism – which means, advocating from the inside of the financial institutions to try to direct where the investments will go. For example, the SMBC Group is among the top 20 leading global fossil fuel investors in the banking sector. We put in a proposal during the shareholders' meeting season demanding the SMBC Group to strengthen its climate change measures and won 27% of the votes! And we will keep up pressure on Japanese financial institutions in the year ahead.

Creative visuals for the action in front of annual shareholders meeting of SMBC Group. © Taishi Takahashi / 350.org Japan

One of our plans for increasing our public pressure is to skill up activists all around the country. We want to help activists to gain skills and network, connect with the voices of those in impacted communities, and explore different pathways to take action. In 2023, we want to spark change!

Thank you again for taking a moment to read my story and all of the stories our team has highlighted over these past few weeks.

In solidarity,

Eri Watanabe
350 Japan Finance Campaigner