Thousands of e-mails are already being sent to HSBC and BNP Paribas international board members asking them to withdraw their finance and support from the Jaitapur nuclear project. Building what will be the world's biggest nuclear power plant in a coastal zone that is prone to earthquakes seems like an inconceivable idea after the horror of Fukushima.
But it is being planned. However it can't go forward without the finance and support of international investment banks - BNP Paribas and HSBC in particular. Today BNP Paribas is holding it's AGM in Paris and HSBC is holding a strategy meeting - and we want these decision makers to hear your messages loud and clear: do not fund Jaitapur. No more Fukushimas.
If you've already sent your e-mail message to the international boards - thank you! But to be sure that your message gets through we want to also encourage you to send a personal e-mail message or contact form message to representatives of the banks.
Just below we have suggested text you can use for your e-mail - of course you can personalize it, it is coming directly from you after all! (For instance, in my e-mail message I explained that my family home is less than 5 kilometres from a 50-year-old nuclear reactor - we need to show the banks that all of us have a personal stake in a nuclear free future.) If you get any response from the banks, please let us know how it went in the comments. Thanks for all your fantastic support.
Some suggested e-mail text:
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To Whom It May Concern:
I've already e-mailed my concerns to members of your international board but I also wanted to bring them to your attention. A nuclear disaster continues to unfold at the Fukushima power plant, and I have serious concerns about your bank’s involvement in the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power station in India. In the context of Fukushima, this raises significant concerns since the proposed construction site is in a high-damage earthquake zone, and the reactor technology has the same inherent weakness as Fukushima: a dependence on active cooling to avoid meltdown, which is required even when the reactor is not operating or generating electricity. In Jaitapur, the Indian government and the utility are proposing the world’s largest nuclear installation, while no waste management plan has been submitted or is even under consideration. Nationally, India has no nuclear waste policy.
Further the proposed plant has raised many serious local issues in the context of environmental and social governance, including –
-The EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) process is flawed as the authorities provided no response to the various questions raised by the public.
-Of the approximately 2400 families who have to sell their land in order to build the plant - only 154 have sold or accepted the compensation so far.
-Local villagers are particularly concerned about the impact on their livelihoods - especially fisherman and farmers.
-The Alphonso mango – an iconic and valuable agricultural commodity - is exported from this region, and local producers are particularly concerned about the impact on this aspect of their livelihoods.
-There have been violent confrontations between local authorities and those opposed to the construction of the plant, and local opposition to the plant is growing steadily stronger.
In light of all of this I urge your board members to to instruct management to withdraw from the consortium funding this project, which is risky in both operational and reputational terms. I would appreciate hearing how my concerns will be addressed.
Thank you for your kind attention.
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Public e-mails and contact forms for BNP Paribas and HSBC:
HSBC
USA: http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/contact-us
Europe (press office): 
UK: https://hsss.hsbc.co.uk/ukpersonal/contactforms/complain.jsp
Chief Executive Brian Robertson 
France: http://www.hsbc.fr/1/2/hsbc-france/particuliers/contact
Germany: http://www.hsbctrinkaus.de/global/display/kontakt/allgemein
Hong Kong: 
Israel: CEO and Country Manager: Yehuda Levi - email: 
Indonesia: 
Brazil: https://wwws3.hsbc.com.br/HPB-SAC/servlets/GenericServlet?action=sitesolicitacaocriar
Mexico: http://www.hsbc.com.mx/1/2/en/help/contact-us
BNP Paribas
Netherlands: 
China: Vivien X Chen, BNP Paribas Investment – Asset management 
Argentina: 