Insurers drop coal in droves to “avoid climate breakdown”

(Unfriend Coal, London, 2 December 2019) The number of insurers withdrawing cover for coal has more than doubled in 2019 as the industry’s retreat from the sector accelerates and spreads beyond Europe, the Unfriend Coal campaign reveals today in its third annual scorecard on insurance, coal and climate change. Coal exit policies have been announced by 17 of the world’s biggest insurers controlling 46% of the reinsurance market and 9.5% of the primary insurance market. Most refuse 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. Action has escalated since international NGOs launched the Unfriend Coal campaign in 2017. Insurers have also divested coal from roughly $8.9 trillion of investments – over one-third (37%) of the industry’s global assets. Insuring Coal No More: The 2019 Scorecard on Insurance, Coal and Climate Change is published by 13 civil society organisations from 10 countries. It was launched to an industry audience at the Insurance and Climate Risk conference in London, as the UN Climate Summit commences in Madrid. As of November 2019, at least 111 globally significant financial institutions – including commercial banks, development financiers, insurers, export credit agencies and central banks – had divested from coal or reduced their exposure to the sector in other ways. Yet in July 2019, 2,459 coal plants with a combined capacity of 2,027 gigawatts were in operation, and another 980 with a combined capacity of 925 gigawatts were planned or under construction.