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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 …

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 …

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

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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, 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, 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, …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

St. Gallen, 30 July 2023 – Helvetia, one of the biggest Swiss insurance companies, has adopted a new fossil fuel policy which excludes cover for new coal and extreme oil projects and excludes investments in coal, oil and gas companies which are still expanding their production. Through a massive loophole, the policy however allows Helvetia …

Washington D.C., 9 June 2023 –  The Senate Budget Committee today called on insurance giants American Insurance Group, Inc. (AIG), Chubb Corp, Liberty Mutual Group, Starr Wright USA, Berkshire Hathaway, State Farm, and Travelers Insurance to disclose their coverage for and investments in fossil fuels and information on how each insurer respects human rights. The Committee’s letter, …

Vienna, 26 May 2023 – Over 40 environmental organisations from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have united to publish an open letter [1] addressed to the CEO of Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), Ms. Elisabeth Stadler, expressing deep concern over the company’s lack of an oil and gas policy and its too laxed coal policy, and …

Paris, 25 May 2023 – At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, the first for the new CEO Thierry Léger, SCOR announced that it will no longer cover new gas field development projects (1). Reclaim Finance welcomes these new climate commitments and calls on Thierry Léger to also exclude new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals …

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 …

Germany, Hanover May 2, 2023 – Talanx, a major German insurance group which operates globally, has adopted new restrictions on oil and gas. New oil and gas fields will no longer be insured as of July 1, 2023.  New oil power plants and new infrastructure directly associated with new oil fields will also be excluded. …

Paris, 27 April 2023 – At its annual general meeting (AGM), AXA missed the opportunity to regain its climate leadership. Despite a call from a representative from an impacted community to warn of the impacts of oil and gas projects in Texas, the group reiterated its support for new gas projects in the name of …

Eight out of nine companies score “0” on oil and gas insurance and investment policies. Need to establish a policy on overall fossil fuels to manage climate change risk. Even as fossil fuels were (and still are) being identified for exacerbating climate change, it was found that Korean domestic property and casualty insurers have no …

A new Finance Risk Update on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project highlights the mounting opposition to the project in Uganda, Tanzania, and globally, citing significant financial, reputational, and legal risks. The update shows that even more banks and insurers are withdrawing their support for the project, bringing the total number of banks …

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 …

Following Munich Re, Zurich is the second founding member of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance to leave the NZIA in recent days. The Swiss insurer claims it wants “to focus our resources to support our customers with their transition”.