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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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

This week, facing mounting pressure from campaigners, Lloyd’s of London syndicate, Probitas1492, ruled out providing insurance for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine and its related infrastructure.  Probitas was known to insure the mine’s transport system, but also admitted that the mine itself had been insured through the Lloyd’s of London marketplace. Ash Bathia, Chief Executive Officer …

The insurance sector is the Achilles’ heel of the fossil fuel industry  Without insurance, fossil fuel companies cannot operate and fossil fuel projects cannot be built or maintained.   This is why we, at Mothers Rise Up, a UK climate-parent group, focus our creative energy on the insurance sector, particularly on the world’s oldest, biggest and …

Oslo, 24 May 2023 – A new report from Greenpeace Nordic reveals for the first time the extent that insurance companies are prioritising dirty profits over the future of the planet by facilitating new oil and gas projects in defiance of the Paris Agreement targets and their own greenwashing rhetoric. The report, Ensuring Disaster, was …

Read The Guardian article, “UK students pledge ‘career boycott’ of insurers over fossil fuels,” published on May 24, 2023 covering the students who refuse to work for climate-wrecking insurance companies. The text of the letter to Lloyd’s of London, Beazley, Brit, Hiscox, Liberty Managing Agents, Chaucer and Tokio Marine Kiln management is as follows: “We, …

Writing in the Times on 24 April, 2023 faith leaders called on the world’s largest insurance market to “show leadership” by ending insurance for all new fossil fuel projects. The text of the letter is below. Dear Bruce Carnegie-Brown and John Neal, As representatives of UK faith organisations, we are writing to you to ask …

A new briefing focused on Lloyd’s of London and its managing agents finds Lloyd’s is failing the climate responsibility test by allowing unchecked fossil fuel expansion and by not ensuring that its managing agents meet even the minimum standards that Lloyd’s has previously recommended. An analysis by Reclaim Finance of Lloyd’s top 20 managing agents (who represent …

Disclaimer: Beazley indicated to Reclaim Finance a few hours before the release of the report to have decided to align with Lloyd’s policy and no longer underwrite new coal mines and plants as well as new tar sands, or arctic energy exploration projects, or companies which generated more than 5% revenues from these activities. This …