{"id":1587,"date":"2019-12-02T05:16:11","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T13:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insureourfuture.co\/?p=1587"},"modified":"2019-12-02T05:16:11","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T13:16:11","slug":"2019scorecardnews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/japan.insure-our-future.com\/en\/2019\/12\/02\/2019scorecardnews\/","title":{"rendered":"Insurers withdrawing cover from coal projects double in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

46% of reinsurance market and 37% of industry\u2019s global assets covered by coal exit policies<\/span><\/h2>\n

The number of insurers withdrawing cover for coal has more than doubled in 2019 as the industry\u2019s retreat from the sector accelerates and spreads beyond Europe, the Insure Our Future campaign reveals today in its third annual scorecard<\/a> on insurance, coal and climate change.<\/p>\n

Coal exit policies have been announced by 17 of the world\u2019s biggest insurers controlling 46% of the reinsurance market and 9.5% of the primary insurance market. Most\u00a0refuse to insure new mines and power plants, while industry leaders have ended cover for existing coal projects and the companies that operate them, and adopted similar policies for tar sands.<\/p>\n

Action has escalated since international NGOs launched the Insure Our Future campaign in 2017. The first three companies announced that they were withdrawing insurance for coal that year, followed by four in 2018, and a further 10 in 2019 \u2013\u00a0 including the first US and Australian insurers.<\/p>\n

Insurers have also divested coal from roughly $8.9 trillion of investments \u2013 over one-third (37%) of the industry\u2019s global assets. To date, at least 35 companies have taken action, up from 15 companies with $4 trillion assets under management in 2017 and 19 with $6 trillion in 2018.<\/p>\n

Coal is the biggest single source of carbon emissions. The climate science institute, Climate Analytics, calculates that holding global temperature rise to 1.5\u00b0C will require global coal combustion to peak by 2020, fall by 80% below 2010 levels over the next decade, and end before 2040.\u00a0Yet companies continue to develop new mines and power plants.<\/p>\n

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Peter Bosshard<\/h4>
Coordinator of Insure Our Future<\/div> <\/div>\n
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\"The role of insurers is to manage society\u2019s risks \u2013 it is their duty and in their own interest to help avoid climate breakdown. The industry\u2019s retreat from coal is gathering pace as public pressure on the fossil fuel industry and its supporters grows. However, major US and Asian insurers continue to undermine international climate action by insuring and investing in coal projects. All responsible companies must make coal uninsurable by ending support for both new and existing mines and power plants, including the Adani Group\u2019s destructive Carmichael coal mine in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jennifer Morgan<\/h4>
Executive Director of Greenpeace International<\/div> <\/div>\n
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\"Insurance companies are as culpable for the climate emergency as the fossil fuel industry. While they insure lives, health and property, they service a sector that is seemingly destroying all three. If they wanted to, insurers could strip fossil fuel firms of their social license and their access to finance for the benefit of people and planet.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Coal projects suffer as insurance market shrinks<\/h2>\n

Insurer action on coal is causing tangible impact; insurance brokers report that the cost of insuring coal is increasing as the market shrinks. In September 2019, UK broker Willis Towers Watson described an \u201cincreasing and worrying trend for insurers to withdraw from what they consider to be environmentally unfriendly industries such as coal\u201d, warning that this trend \u201cleaves very few primary markets for coal miners to turn to\u201d.<\/p>\n

Several coal companies have confirmed that a shrinking insurance market is affecting their operations. In Australia, the Adani Group is struggling to find insurance to develop the huge Carmichael mine, which would produce 4.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. At least 16 international insurers have ruled out underwriting the project.<\/p>\n

Insuring Coal No More: The 2019 Scorecard on Insurance, Coal and Climate Change<\/i> is published by 13 civil society organisations from 10 countries. It was launched to an industry audience at the Insurance and Climate Risk<\/a>\u00a0conference in London, as the UN Climate Summit commences in Madrid.<\/p>\n

The report reveals that:<\/p>\n