A group of climate activists has called on 30 insurance company CEOs to “immediately” stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects in the wake of a stark climate warning from UN scientists, a letter seen by Reuters showed.
Insure our Future, a global consortium of activists, said it had sent the letter dated Tuesday last week to companies including Munich Re Group, Zurich Insurance Group AG and AXA SA.
The six-page letter, signed by 23 climate groups, including non-governmental organizations, said the insurance industry had failed to do enough to meet the world’s climate goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Other demands included stopping insurance for new fossil fuel customers not aligned with the goal, and adopting binding targets to reduce insured emissions by July.
“Insurers, as society’s risk managers, have a special responsibility to act and the power to drive change: without insurance most new fossil fuel projects cannot go ahead and existing ones cannot continue to operate,” it said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week said that the “climate time bomb is ticking” and urged rich countries to cut emissions sooner, after a new assessment from scientists said there was little time to lose in tackling climate change.
While some insurers have tightened underwriting and investment policies to exclude some polluting industries from their business, the most stringent policies have focused primarily on coal rather than oil and gas.
“Numerous loopholes in policies and standards allow insurers to continue underwriting the expansion of fossil fuel production,” the letter said.
The Sunrise Project finance program director Peter Bosshard, one of the letter’s authors, said that climate-related resolutions were already on the agenda at the US insurers, and more could follow.
US insurers Chubb Ltd, the Hartford and Travelers are among companies facing climate-focused shareholder resolutions at upcoming annual general meetings.
“We are considering doing the same with Japanese insurers for next year, and also with the European insurers if they don’t get more serious,” Bosshard said.
Some industry executives have said that if they sever ties too quickly with polluting industries, unemployment would rise, and activists are too focused on stopping activities rather than transformation.
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