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The insurance crisis: an illness caused by rising climate risks The insurance industry is facing a growing crisis that threatens our society and the global economy. We have temporarily breached 1.5℃ leaving individuals increasingly vulnerable. The numbers are stark: Carbon Brief compiled every published study on the influence of climate change on extreme weather and …

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: ###

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 …

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 …

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, 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). …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Gwich’in Steering Committee (GSC) released an update to its scorecard that tracks global insurance companies’ policy on fossil fuel development in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Since the initial release of the scorecard in August 2021, six additional “gold medal” companies have been added for a total of 12 international insurers with …

A tool to detect greenwashing practices in the finance sector Reclaim Finance and more than 15 NGOs launch the “Oil and Gas Policy Tracker” (OGPT). The tool is the first of its kind: it assesses in great detail the oil and gas exclusion policies (or lack thereof) of the 150 biggest financial institutions worldwide. The …

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 …

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, …

The Insure Our Future network cautiously welcomes the UNEP Net Zero Insurance Alliance’s (NZIA’s) ‘Statement of commitment by signatory companies’, but calls on the NZIA founding members – AXA (NZIA Chair), Allianz, Aviva, Generali, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich Insurance Group – to demonstrate this commitment by immediately excluding new oil and gas …

With the publication of the new Generali Group Strategy on Climate Change, Assicurazioni Generali finally acknowledges the requests of ReCommon and Greenpeace Italy, adopting a decarbonisation plan. It was more than 3 years ago that the two associations started to push Generali to stop its financial support of coal. The most relevant element of the …

Insurance companies Allianz, Generali, and Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) continue to insure Czech coal companies despite pledged coal policies. Report by researchers from Re-Set, a Czech civil society organisation, finds that the insurers are underwriting climate-wrecking coal power plants and derailing decarbonisation both in Czech republic and the EU as a whole. The report, Betting …

A few weeks before Generali’s shareholder meeting, scheduled for April 29, Re:Common and Greenpeace Italia release an Italian publication and English brief which shows that Generali is one of the key players in supporting the European coal sector, particularly in countries that still strongly depend on the most polluting of fossil fuels: Poland, the Czech …

Urgewald released a report highlighting the European insurance industry’s role in supporting gas infrastructure. The paper, released as part of the Insure Our Future campaign, names Allianz, Talanx, AXA, Generali and Munich Re as key insurers to big fossil gas projects in recent years, such as the Świnoujście, Zeebrugge and Dunkirk liquefied natural gas (LNG) …

December 12, 2020 – On the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, Thomas Buberl, the CEO of the AXA Group, proposed the creation of a Net-Zero Underwriting Alliance (NZUA). The Insure Our Future campaign welcomed the proposal as a sign that insurers are increasingly accepting responsibility for the emissions of the projects they are underwriting. …

The 2020 Scorecard finds that Insurers’ continued retreat from coal is making it harder and more expensive to secure insurance for coal projects. Although momentum is growing, it falls short of what is needed to drive action to meet international climate targets. Major companies in the U.S., the Lloyd’s market and East Asia are still …

Laggards in U.S., Asia and Lloyd’s Market slow global progress Insurers’ continued retreat from coal is making it harder and more expensive to secure insurance for coal projects, the Insure Our Future campaign revealed in its fourth annual scorecard on insurers’ climate policies. Although momentum is growing, it falls short of what is needed to …