Insure Our Future responds to EIOPA’s recognition of the elevated risks of fossil fuels

In response to the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) recommendation of a “dedicated prudential treatment for insurers’ fossil fuel assets to cushion against transition risks” Minyoung Shin, Global Coordinator for Insure Our Future, said: ###

Institutional investors conduct climate change engagement with SOMPO after being encouraged by environmental NGOs

Tokyo, October 28, 2024 – In the last week of August, five environmental NGOs (Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES), Friends of the Earth Japan, Mekong Watch, Rainforest Action Network, Insure Our Future) sent a request letter to 50 financial institutions that are major shareholders of SOMPO Holdings, requesting to engage with …

Generali, a new step forward in the fight against oil and gas expansion

Trieste, 22 October 2024 – Today, Italian insurer Generali announced it will no longer provide insurance for risks associated with oil and gas expansion, including new liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals and gas-fired power plants (1). Generali is the first insurer globally to adopt a policy covering the entire oil and gas value chain for …

For a few dollars more -Report by Reclaim Finance

For a few dollars more – the Fossil Fuel Policies of Lloyd’s Managing Agents 2

London, 9 October 2024 – Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading insurance market, is holding back climate action through its on-going support for fossil fuel expansion, according to new analysis from Reclaim Finance (1). While other major European insurers’ no longer cover new fossil fuel projects, Lloyd’s of London continues to provide cover, with no …

Zurich lake

Too little, too late: Zurich publishes unambitious transition plan

Zurich, 20 September 2024 – Zurich Insurance published its first transition plan yesterday. Campax and Insure Our Future welcome the move, but are disappointed with the unambitious emission reduction targets.  Zurich Insurance, ranked 4th globally in primary insurance and 6th in insuring fossil fuels, was previously a member of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA). …

Letter sent to SOMPO’s 50 shareholders to engage with the insurer to stop underwriting new fossil fuels

Below, the letter “Request to engage with SOMPO to stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects” was submitted to SOMPO’s 50 large shareholders. August 28, 2024 Dear Shareholders of SOMPO Holdings, Request to engage with SOMPO to stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) Friends of the Earth …

Property & Casualty Companies Facing Rising Claims While Fostering Fossil Fuels

Today, the shareholder advocacy organization Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) released a report outlining the role of Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry in encouraging fossil fuels while facing rising climate claims and passing along these costs to policyholders. The report Playing With Fire: Canadian Insurers and Fossil Fuels shows how the industry redistributes climate-related risks and …

Report: Playing With Fire: Canadian Insurers & Fossil Fuels

There is a contradiction within Canada’s property and casualty (P&C) industry. By its own admission, climate change is threatening the industry’s business model with increased risk and rising claims, yet it is complicit in increasing this risk via its underwriting and investing in the fossil fuel industry.

How The Insurance Industry Impacts Climate Chaos In Bangladesh

The dangerous impacts of climate change – the flooding, droughts, extreme heat, tropical cyclones,  severe storms, erosion, water contamination and groundwater depletion  – are well known and witnessed daily in Bangladesh, my home, but one thing that’s less obvious is the role of the insurance industry in the crisis. Burning fossil fuels is the number …

Letter — SOMPO: Stop Underwriting Rio Grande LNG

Ahead of SOMPO’s AGM, a letter signed by 28 Environmental NGOs, including Rainforest Action Network and the Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society, was delivered urging the company to cease underwriting and investing in a contentious LNG export terminal planned in Brownsville, Texas, United States, as well as in all oil, gas, and …

SOMPO: Stop Underwriting Rio Grande LNG

Japanese insurance major’s support for the controversial gas project draws protests at annual general meeting. TOKYO, JAPAN – JUNE 24, 2024 – Today, environmental NGOs including Rainforest Action Network and the Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society gathered in front of SOMPO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) to demand the Japanese insurance giant stop …

A Just Transition To Clean Energy Can Benefit Insurers and Communities

Insurers are facing the consequences of their decisions over the last half-century. Over the past month, the unfolding insurance crisis has captured headlines. The New York Times detailed how extreme weather events are stretching the insurance sector to its limits, testing the boundaries of what can and cannot be insured. Concurrently, The Guardian highlighted IPCC …

Aerial view of Vienna - Vienna, Austria

VIG lacks ambition as it slows on progress: Insure Our Future statement on updated sustainability policy

Vienna, 15 May 2024 – In response to Vienna Insurance Group’s updated sustainability rules:

Analysis: Chubb’s new conservation and methane standards remain inadequate but should exclude support for EACOP

New criteria falls short of aligning with 1.5°C San Francisco – In a SEC filing of “Additional Proxy Soliciting Materials” Chubb quietly updated its oil, gas, and conservation policies. RAN’s analysis, released ahead of Chubb’s Annual General Meeting Thursday, May 16th, has concluded that while the updates are a small improvement, the loopholes and narrow …

AXA must end its support for LNG

2023 was the hottest year on record, as well as the year in which we saw insurance companies abandon their customers most affected by climate risks. Climate change, mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), is accompanied by ever more intense and frequent climatic disasters: forest fires, floods, drought, hurricanes, …

Insuring Disaster 2024

ShareAction Report: Insurance’s triple whammy threatens the survival of people and planet

London, 15 April 2024 – A major investigation into the world’s 65 largest insurance companies from the responsible investment charity ShareAction, released 11 April 2024, shows that both people and planet face the triple whammy from insurance companies underwriting and investing in projects that are increasing global warming, damaging the natural environment and failing to …

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New Finance Watch report clarifies ingredients for impactful transition plans for insurers

Brussels, 12 April 2024 – A new report from Finance Watch outlines the steps that must be taken to ensure effective implementation of mandatory transition plans for insurance companies as tools to support transition and manage the related risks. It outlines the urgent need for supervised “prudential” transition plans, pointing to the financial instability that …

IOF Lloyd's Building 24

Campaigners demand ‘polluters pay’ as insurance industry meet for inaugural sustainability summit

Today, as the insurance industry convenes for the first Global Sustainable Insurance Summit in Los Angeles, the 32 campaign groups of the Insure Our Future network have sent a letter to the world’s leading fossil fuel insurers, detailing how they can accelerate the transition to a clean and just energy economy. Demands in the letter …

Zurich Insurance Protest Global Week of Action 2024

Insure Our Future Responds to Zurich’s New Oil and Gas Exit Policy

Zurich, 8 April 2024 – In a Bloomberg story today, the Zurich Insurance Group today announced major new fossil fuel restrictions, excluding the underwriting of new oil and gas extraction and metallurgical coal projects. The Insure Our Future campaign and its Swiss member Campax welcomed the news and called on AIG, Tokio Marine and the big Lloyd’s …

Tokio Marine’s strengthened climate policy does not go far enough

Tokio Marine, Japan’s biggest property and casualty insurer and the 15th largest fossil fuel underwriter in the world, announced on 13th March that its largest subsidiary, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. (TMNF), is strengthening its engagement policy with 60 companies in high Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensive sectors, and commits to stop insuring, …

Thousands take part in powerful global week of action demanding Insurance industry take climate action

This week has been an incredible global week of action for the Insure Our Future campaign, with thousands of people taking part in over 100 actions across 31 countries in 5 continents, including over 100,000 people taking action online. In-person actions include protests in Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, UK, USA, Philippines, Pakistan, Tanzania, …

Insure Our Future XR London Action

Probitas pulls out of EACOP and West Cumbria coal mine

London, 4 March 2024 – (guest content published by Extinction Rebellion) Major insurer Probitas1492 have today (Monday) confirmed that they will never insure two major ‘carbon bomb’ projects – the East African Crude Oil Pipeline and the proposed West Cumbria coal mine – after a week of peaceful protest from Extinction Rebellion (XR) and members …

Zurich or Dubai?

Statement by Peter Bosshard at the Global Week of Action, Zurich, February 28, 2024 The fossil fuel industry is destroying our planet. After us the deluge, is their motto! The expansion of fossil fuel extraction would not be possible without insurance. And whenever we find information about who is insuring coal and oil projects, Zurich is …

Why people in nearly 30 countries are protesting at insurance companies

In the last week of February, people in over 30 countries across the world organized demonstrations, marches, and community events at some of the largest global insurance companies – including AIG, Tokio Marine, Zurich, Chubb, Lloyd’s of London, Travelers, Sompo, and The Hartford. These events brought a clear message: Insure our future, not fossil fuels. …

Global Week of Action calls on insurance companies to take urgent climate action

The insurance industry holds the key to a safer, prosperous future if they act now. Over 100 groups in over 27 countries across 5 continents are holding over 80 demonstrations, marches, direct actions and events this week with a clear message: Insure Our Future, not fossil fuels. The insurance industry is uniquely positioned to drive …

Insurance companies can’t hide anymore: communities from across the globe demand action

The Insure Our Future network and communities from across the world are coming together for the first ever Global Week of Action to spotlight and target the insurance industry for their role in the climate crisis and demand action. Groups in over 27 countries across 5 continents are holding a week’s worth of demonstrations, marches, …

Risk Exposure: The insurers secretly backing the methane gas boom in the U.S. Gulf South

Report with FOIA information reveals which insurers are part of the biggest fossil fuel buildout of this generation Houston, Texas –  At least 35 different insurance companies are responsible for underwriting liquified methane export terminal projects across the U.S Gulf South, according to a report released today by Rainforest Action Network and Public Citizen. The …

A shot of natural gas storage tanks in sphere shape in Okayama, Japan

REPORT: Risk Exposure: The insurers secretly backing the methane gas boom in the U.S. Gulf South

At least 35 different insurance companies are responsible for underwriting liquified methane export terminal projects across the U.S Gulf South, according to a report by Rainforest Action Network and Public Citizen. The analysis, based on documents obtained through open record requests, details the insurance coverage for existing and projected methane gas infrastructure that, if built, …

Oil Refinery Gas Chemical Equipment Prodiction import export Concept, Crude Oil Refinery Plant Steel Pump Pipe line and Chimney and Cooling tower, Chemical or Petrochemical Factory plant, industry

Victory as Leading Global Insurers at Lloyd’s of London Rule Out Controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline

In a significant win for the natural world and the global movement fighting fossil fuel pollution, leading (re)insurance companies SiriusPoint, Riverstone International, Enstar Group, and specialty insurers Blenheim and SA Meacock, have all officially ruled out involvement in the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. A total of 28 (re)insurers have now declared …

Korean edition: 50 Years of Climate Failure: 2023 Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels and the Climate Emergency

Fifty years after the industry first warned about the growing risks of climate change it continues to provide insurance that allows new fossil fuel projects to go ahead. Insurers are abandoning customers affected by climate risks, yet most continue to fuel the climate emergency by providing cover for increased oil and gas production. Download the …

Zurich in the morning by elxeneize

Global association of Insurance CEOs confronted by climate protest at 50th summit – Will they ‘Safeguard the Planet’ or Greenwash business as usual?

Zurich, 28 November 2023 – Insure Our Future campaigners are protesting at the Geneva Association’s 50th anniversary summit in Zurich today, demanding that the global insurance industry take immediate action to slow the climate crisis and support the urgent transition from fossil fuels to renewables.  The Geneva Association calls itself the only international association of …

A shot of natural gas storage tanks in sphere shape in Okayama, Japan

MS&AD Announce Significant Emission Reduction Target

Tokyo, 22 November 2023 – On November 21, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings (hereafter MS&AD), one of Japan’s three major property and casualty insurers, announced a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target of 37%  for the underwriting and investment portfolio of its domestic clients by 2030, using 2019 as a baseline year* (PR in Japanese). This …

Campaigners call on the International Association of Insurance Supervisors to take action on climate

Activists gathered in front of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) annual conference venue in Tokyo, Japan, on the 9th of November, asking the global standard-setting body to take decisive measures and strengthen their efforts to prevent the worsening of the global climate crisis. 📣Outside the @IAISNews annual conference last week attended by over …

Insurers withdraw cover for climate risks while backing increased fossil fuel production, industry must act to support 1.5°C climate target after 50 years of failure

Global, 9 November 2023 – Fifty years after the insurance industry first warned about the impact of climate change it is continuing to fuel the climate emergency, the Insure Our Future campaign warns today in its seventh annual scorecard on insurers’ climate policies. The growing frequency and severity of floods, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and other …

50 Years of Climate Failure: 2023 Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels and the Climate Emergency

Fifty years after the industry first warned about the growing risks of climate change it continues to provide insurance that allows new fossil fuel projects to go ahead. Insurers are abandoning customers affected by climate risks, yet most continue to fuel the climate emergency by providing cover for increased oil and gas production. Download the …

Tokyo cityscape at sunset by Claudio Ventrella

Open letter demanding climate risk regulatory action from the International Association of Insurance Supervisors

Tokyo, 31 October 2023 Dear IAIS Executive Committee Chair Saporta and Vice Chair Ariizumi: CC: IAIS Executive Committee, Climate Risk Steering Group Chair and Vice Chair, and Secretariat We write to you today from dozens of climate, environment, and consumer protection organisations, as you prepare for the IAIS annual meeting, to express our deep concern …

The IAIS Needs to Step Up on Climate

Insurance companies continue to insure and invest in fossil fuels and are abandoning climate affected communities instead. The Net Zero Insurance Alliance has failed to define meaningful steps for addressing climate risk, so regulators need to step up. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) holds its annual meeting in Tokyo on November 6-10 and …

Huge quarry bucket excavator works in a hot outdoors slag dump.

Reinsurers fuel the climate crisis while climate victims pay the price

Baden-Baden, 20 October 2023 – Ahead of the annual reinsurance congress in Baden-Baden, Urgewald and the international Insure Our Future network call on reinsurers to end their continued unqualified support of the fossil fuel industry, emissions from which are the prime contributor to global climate change. Reinsurance companies, whose role is to provide insurance to …

Oil refineries illuminated at night in Wakayama, Japan

Tokio Marine’s intermediate decarbonisation target lacks ambition and impact

Tokyo, 2 October 2023 – On September 29th, Tokio Marine, Japan’s biggest property and casualty insurer and the 7th* biggest globally, announced its “Interim Target for 2030 for the Transition to a Decarbonized Society“. It has set an engagement target within its domestic subsidiary, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (TMNF), to engage …

Coal mining in surface mine. Miner looking on the huge excavator.

Leading European insurers underwrite 30% of U.S. coal despite net zero pledges

Washington, D.C., 28 September 2023 – Leading European insurers are underwriting nearly a third of U.S. coal production despite their net zero commitments, reveals a new report released today by Insure Our Future. Lloyd’s of London, Zurich and Swiss Re are among the top ten insurers of the 25 biggest U.S. mines, which produced more …

View into a coal mine with working wheel excavator

International NGOs urge climate laggards Samsung Fire and Marine and Samsung Life to immediately set comprehensive coal phase out policies and stop renewing coal insurance

Seoul, 21 September 2023 – In a collective effort to address the climate crisis, a group of 29 NGOs from across the world, including Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) and Insure Our Future, has issued an open letter to the CEOs of Samsung Fire and Marine (Samsung FM) and Samsung Life Insurance demanding stronger climate …

nyiragongo volcano, nord Kivu, DRC

New Report from Greenpeace: Congo oil fields are quickly becoming uninsurable

Kinshasa, 8 September 2023 – Any company granted exploration and exploitation rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) oil auction could find itself without financial protection, according to a report published today by Greenpeace Africa, Insure our Future, Reclaim Finance and Urgewald. If leading insurance and reinsurance companies follow their commitments and their general …

Allianz’s transition plan: bold but with serious loopholes

On September 7, 2023, leading global insurance company Allianz published its first Net Zero Transition Plan.  Peter Bosshard, Global Network Coordinator of the Insure Our Future campaign commented: Allianz’s transition plan is transparent, comprehensive, timely and in many ways ambitious but contains serious gaps when it comes to new gas infrastructure. If Allianz closes these loopholes, its transition …

Lloyd's of London Building

Lloyd’s ESG update: A step towards forgotten commitments, or more greenwashing?

London, 5 September 2023, first published in The Insurer – Lloyd’s of London, one of the world’s largest insurers of fossil fuels, has said it will comment more expansively on ESG guidance in September 2023. It is anticipated to be a further distancing from Lloyd’s first ESG policy, published in December 2020, and another textbook …

Insurance Industry Scorecard Update Reports 20 Global Insurers now Protect Land Sacred to Alaska Natives in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

FAIRBANKS, AK – An update to the Gwich’in Steering Committee (GSC) insurance industry scorecard released today reports 20 insurers now have a policy that protects Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit (“The Sacred Place Where Life Begins”) from oil and gas development. The scorecard tracks global insurance companies’ policies on fossil fuel development in the coastal plain of the Arctic …

Cityscape Tokyo Japan

Three major Japanese non-life insurers left NZIA and failed to disclose the intermediate targets by deadline – NGOs urge insurers to set intermediate targets for emissions of their underwriting portfolio immediately

Tokyo, 2 August 2023, Joint Statement via Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES), Kiko Network, Friends of the Earth Japan, 350.org Japan, Mekong Watch and Insure Our Future – Three major Japanese non-life insurers (Tokio Marine Holdings, SOMPO Holdings and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings), which left the UN-led Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (hereinafter …

Gas storage sphere tank in petrochemical industry zone with oil and gas

AXA, the 10th insurer to (almost) stop covering new gas fields

Paris, 28 July 2023 via Reclaim Finance – French insurer AXA has announced it will no longer cover new gas fields, becoming the 10th insurer to make such a commitment (1). But AXA has not gone as far as some of its peers, allowing exceptions for companies it considers to be “in transition”. Reclaim Finance …

UNEP caves to the fossil fuel lobby on NZIA target setting

Dropping the obligation to set emission reduction targets will turn the NZIA into an empty shell In a statement published on July 5, UNEP announced that the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) will no longer require its members to set and publish targets for reducing their insured emissions (1). This will reduce the NZIA to …

Korean insurers have exited new coal while other financial institutions fail to meet global standards

Korean insurers have stopped providing coverage for the construction and operation of new coal-fired power plants finds new report A majority of financial institutions in South Korea failed to meet global standards of divestment from coal, Solutions for Our Climate said in its Wave of Coal Exit Pledges in 2021, Still Lacking Effective Policies issue …

Documents reveal Chubb, MAPFRE & Tokio Marine backing massive offshore oil expansion in Brazil

AXA, Liberty Mutual, and others also implicated in Brazil’s oil expansion plans, despite the IEA’s warnings that limiting warming to 1.5°C requires an end to all fossil fuel expansion Global insurance companies Chubb, MAPFRE, and Tokio Marine insure the majority of Brazil’s offshore oil and gas drilling, according to a report entitled Fueling Climate Change: …

Fuelling Climate Change: The Insurers Behind Brazil’s Offshore Oil Expansion

Global insurance companies Chubb, MAPFRE, and Tokio Marine insure the majority of Brazil’s offshore oil and gas drilling, according to a report entitled Fueling Climate Change: The Insurers Behind Brazil’s Offshore Oil Expansion released by Insure Our Future. Based on previously undisclosed documents, the report finds that these three companies insure Brazil’s national oil company …

Letter to Lloyd’s on its inadequate ‘ESG’ policy

On the same day that Insure Our Future leaked Lloyd’s ESG guidance, Client Earth published a letter to Lloyd’s critiquing the inadequacy of this guidance. This letter to Lloyd’s sets out why Lloyd’s ESG guidance is wholly inadequate to set the Lloyd’s market on a science-based pathway to net zero. In particular, the guidance: Is …

Insure Our Future publishes leaked Lloyd’s ESG Guidelines

Insure Our Future exposes Lloyd’s roll-back of its stated climate policies and a blatant case of ESG policy greenwashing UPDATE: Following the leaked copy of its ESG Guidelines and a letter from Client Earth that critiqued Lloyd’s lack of transparency, Lloyd’s has now published the Guidelines on its own website. Lloyd’s now needs to make …

Mothers create alternative advent calendar in appeal to Lloyd’s of London to stop insuring fossil fuels

Mothers have created an alternative advent calendar for Lloyd’s Chair Bruce Carnegie-Brown to highlight the impact of the climate crisis and urge the company to stop insuring fossil fuels. The calendar was hand delivered by three of the mothers to Lloyd’s of London on 30th November.  The calendar is based on themed advent calendars which …

Zurich takes minor step away from oil and gas

Zurich’s new greenfield oil policy allows the insurer to continue business as usual on oil and gas expansion, and its Arctic and tar sands policy only excludes an estimated 10.4% of short term oil and gas expansion plans, finds Insure Our Future (1). Today, Zurich announced that it will no longer insure new greenfield oil …

Insuring against climate catastrophe

New report argues UK insurance sector currently facilitates the climate crisis but with bold reform it can play a key role in delivering a safe climate pathway By supporting the continuation of extraction and emissions, the insurance industry plays a central role in facilitating economic activity that fuels climate and environmental breakdown. The UK plays …

Letter to Lloyd’s on their climate change policy

In October 2021, the Society of Lloyd’s (the “Society”) announced a new commitment for the Lloyd’s market to achieve net-zero emission by 2050. However, the Society has not published the detail of the action it is asking market participants to take to meet that commitment. That detail was included in ESG guidance issued to Lloyd’s …

2021 Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels & Climate Change

Insuring Our Future: The 2021 Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels and Climate Change, focuses on 30 of the world’s top insurers. It is published by 26 organizations from 14 countries and will be launched today at the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow. Insure Our Future’s fifth annual report on the insurance industry’s response to …

Insurers’ support for oil and gas undermines climate targets

Coal industry nearly uninsurable as U.S. & Bermuda companies provide last lifeline  The global insurance industry is undermining efforts to meet climate targets by continuing to support new oil and gas production, the Insure Our Future campaign reveals today in its fifth annual scorecard on insurers’ climate policies. Only three insurers, France’s AXA, Italy’s Generali, …

AXA’s new oil and gas policy: glass 44% full or 56% empty?

Three days before COP26, AXA announced a new oil and gas policy which is both an important first step and a big missed opportunity. ​​AXA is the first major fossil fuel insurer to adopt an oil and gas policy, and the document contains new restrictions on extreme oil and gas sources such as fracking, Arctic …

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