The latest report from the Sunrise Project, its sixth annual scorecard, has declared new coal projects virtually ‘uninsurable’ and sees oil and gas as beginning to go the same way.

The report ranks the world’s top 30 global fossil fuel insurers on the quality of their fossil fuel exclusion policies and includes a look at several CEOs’ role and legacy in responding to the climate crisis.

A number of significant holdouts (for example, Japan's Sompo, AIG and Travelers) joined the list of insurers who no longer underwrite new coal projects. Insurers with coal exclusions now account for 62 per cent of the reinsurance industry and 39 per cent of the primary insurance market.

With many of the remaining insurers without coal exclusions not involved in the fossil fuel industry and the remaining coal insurers lack the expertise or capacity to underwrite sizable new coal power projects outside of China, new coal projects are now difficult to insure at best.

As insurers cut ties with the coal industry, the shift away from oil and gas is now accelerating, as Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, announced a conventional oil and gas restriction policy, following Swiss Re and Allianz and adding pressure to move the industry.

Share Story: