MAPFRE commits to stop insuring new tar sands, Arctic drilling & coal infrastructure, but remains silent on insurance of other oil and gas expansion
Today at its Annual General Meeting, MAPFRE, Spain’s largest non-life insurer and one of Europe’s biggest insurers, formally adopted new commitments to exclude tar sands and Arctic oil & gas production from its insurance business and to extend its existing coal exclusion policy. However, campaigners are calling on MAPFRE to end existing tar sands and arctic drilling contracts now, and to stop insuring all new oil and gas projects.
In addition to its 2019 policy excluding coverage of new coal power plants and mines, MAPFRE has now committed to:
- Stop insuring new infrastructure that exclusively serves the construction and / or operation of thermal coal mines or coal power plants.
- Stop insuring companies which obtain 30% or more of their income from energy produced from thermal coal and mining companies that obtain 30% or more of their income from the extraction of coal or have an annual production of thermal coal greater than 20 million tons.
- Stop underwriting new projects related to the extraction or transportation of tar sands, and eliminate all such projects from its portfolio by 2030.
- Stop insuring new offshore and onshore projects in the Arctic for the extraction and transportation of gas or oil.
- Decarbonise its insurance portfolio by 2030 in Europe and 2040 in the rest of the world.
“MAPFRE has taken some steps in the right direction, but they need to act with more ambition. MAPFRE should strengthen its new fossil fuel policies by committing to not renew any existing tar sands and Arctic energy insurances, and excluding, without exceptions, all insurance and investment in companies with fossil fuel expansion plans.”
“MAPFRE needs to also re-examine its client relationships with oil and gas companies, particularly with Pemex, Mexico’s state oil company. Pemex is one of the world’s most polluting companies, and is planning to increase its oil production through the exploitation of new fields. MAPFRE cannot claim to have appropriate ESG policies while it continues to underwrite Pemex’s expansion plans. MAPFRE needs to substantially strengthen its oil and gas sector sustainability commitments by excluding new oil and gas expansion projects and all companies that have not adopted a transition plan aligned with a 1.5ºC scenario.”
