INSURANCE firms must rule out bankrolling new liquid natural gas (LNG) expansion in the Coral Triangle, campaigners warned yesterday.

Activists in North Yorkshire created a 90-metre sand mural showing a sea turtle dripping in oil, demanding insurers not underwrite fossil fuel projects in the area in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Made by local Cayton Bay artist Fred Brown, it is the sixth mural organised as part of the Insure Our Future campaign.

It warned against expanding gas projects in one of the world’s “most important marine ecosystems.”

The area accounts for roughly three quarters (76 per cent) of the world’s coral species.

It also includes critical spawning grounds for tuna, vast mangrove carbon sinks and provides economic and social benefits to around 360m residents.

Campaigners warned these ecosystems are under threat due to over 100 offshore oil and gas blocks in operation, more than 450 additional exploration blocks, 19 operating LNG terminals and 30 plans for new terminals.