Insurance companies are too often overlooked in the climate debate, yet crucial. They are an important factor in how societies deal with the damage of lives and property resulting from extreme weather events, and whether progress can be made in making societies and economies more resilient. Insurance firms can play a dominant role in fostering sustainability and climate resilience through their underwriting decisions, their investment choices and by engaging with clients on ESG issues. Unfortunately, the world’s largest reinsurer Munich Re failed to take climate leadership on ruling out oil and gas insurance. Indeed, they continue to insure oil and gas projects and companies. 😡 At the same time, Munich Re is profiting from the impacts of climate change by raising premiums for homeowners and thus transferring the costs to its customers... But we do have great examples of insurance companies taking great climate actions. Swiss Re, the first major oil and gas insurer to adopt a policy for the sector which excludes insurance for most new oil and gas projects; expresses an ambition that by 2025 half, and by 2030 all, of its oil and gas premiums will come from companies with credible net zero plans; and commits to develop an oil and gas policy for its treaty business by 2023. Swiss Re’s policy includes the following elements 👇 - Excludes insurance and investment for all new oil and gas field projects with a Final Investment Decision (FID) approved after 2022, (even if it allows for exceptions for oil and gas companies with credible net-zero plans). - Commits to reducing its support not only for oil and gas companies in the upstream and midstream, but also in the downstream sector (utilities, refineries, etc) by expressing an ambition that by 2025 it will derive half of its oil and gas sectors premiums from companies credibly aligned with net-zero goals, and for that by 2030 it will only do business with credibly net zero aligned companies in the sector. - Announces it will start work on its approach to the exclusion of oil & gas from treaty reinsurance business, and that it will communicate details of its approach in 2023. https://www.sustainability-times.com/environmental-protection/insurers-need-to-rise-to-the-challenges-of-climate-change/ https://global.insure-our-future.com/munich-re-has-not-stopped-supporting-oil-gas/ https://global.insure-our-future.com/swiss-re-leads-insurance-exodus-from-oil-and-gas/