Insurance company restrictions on oil and gas are finally starting to catch up with those on coal, with 62% of reinsurers having coal exit policies and 38% having coal exit policies, according to a new data report from the Insure Our Future campaign. now oil and gas exclusions.
The data is taken from Insure Our Future’s annual scorecard, which ranks the world’s top 30 fossil fuel insurers based on the quality of their fossil fuel exclusion policies.
By the time of last year’s COP, only Suncorp, Generali and AXA had passed restrictions on insuring conventional oil and gas projects, the report said.
However, last year Allianz, Aviva, Fidelis, Hannover Re, KBC, Mapfre, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich all followed suit, bringing the total number of policies to 13.
As a result, the market share of oil and gas restricted insurers increased from 3% to 38% among reinsurers, the report said, and from 5% to 15% among primary insurers.
He also adds that 18 insurers have ruled out support for Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline and 16 have pledged not to get involved in the East African crude oil pipeline.
The report notes that this year, Allianz, AXA and Axis Capital rank first for their coal exit policies, while Aviva, Hannover Re and Munich Re top for their oil and gas exclusions.
At the bottom of the fossil fuel rankings are a group of insurers that have yet to adopt restrictions on coverage for coal, oil or gas projects, including US insurers Berkshire Hathaway, Starr and Bermudian carrier Everest. D.
The report also notes that Lloyd’s of London in the UK is also doing very poorly, having announced a coal phase-out framework in 2020 but then backtracked by declaring it optional.
Liberty Mutual, Chubb and Tokio Marine have adopted some restrictions on coal, the report says, but are actively expanding the oil and gas industry.
Chinese insurers PICC and Sinosure have not adopted any restrictions on fossil fuels but, in accordance with Chinese government policy, will no longer cover new coal-fired plants overseas.
Peter Bosshard, global coordinator of the Insure Our Future campaign and lead author of the
Scorecard, commented, “Insurance is the Achilles heel of the fossil fuel industry and has the power to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
“All insurance companies should immediately align their business with the 1.5C target of the Paris Agreement and stop insuring new coal, oil and gas projects.”
The report observes that Munich Re, Swiss Re and Allianz have adopted ambitious policies with commitments to cease insuring most or all new oil and gas production projects.
He also notes that while the number of oil and gas restrictions is increasing, the quality is very uneven, with Aviva and Hannover Re having the strictest policies, but not major players in the oil and gas sector.
By contrast, AXA and Zurich, which the report says are both major oil and gas insurers, took only minor steps by pledging to end insurance for oil exploration, but not for new oil production or gas exploration or production.
Meanwhile, major fossil fuel insurers like AIG, Chubb, Lloyd’s and Tokio Marine have yet to adopt any restrictions on conventional oil and gas.
