9 December 2019
A report into the biggest insurers in the world has found that the number of insurers withdrawing cover for coal projects has more than doubled this year. Unfriend Coal - a co-ordinated campaign of international NGOs - states that coal is on its way to becoming uninsurable as most projects cannot be financed, built or operated without insurance.
Policies to exit coal, which is the biggest single contributor to climate change, have been announced by 17 of the 30 world’s biggest insurers, controlling 46.4% of the reinsurance market and 9.5% of the primary insurance market. Insurers have also divested coal from roughly $8.9 trillion of investments – over one-third (37%) of the industry’s 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.