4 March 2021
Last night, after announcing a new environment/social/governance (ESG) exclusion policy that rules out underwriting and investing in thermal coal, Arctic oil and gas exploration and tar sands, major insurance company Hiscox told Market Forces that they “have no interest in coal mines like Adani’s and this [ESG] policy makes that clear”.
This commitment makes Hiscox the 32nd major insurer to rule out insurance coverage for the Adani Carmichael coal project. Hiscox is one of the biggest insurers active in the Lloyd’s of London insurance marketplace. With this move, four of the five biggest Lloyd’s insurers are now publicly committed to not insuring Adani Carmichael. Another major Lloyd’s insurer and existing Adani underwriter Brit Insurance, made the move last week.
However the fight is not over as the Lloyd’s marketplace remains one of the few places still willing to insure new thermal coal projects and that needs to change. If Lloyd’s and its insurers are serious about their ambition to “help accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy” they must all unequivocally rule out insurance for the Carmichael coal project, because no insurance company can claim to be helping the transition while at the same time insuring new thermal coal projects.
Take action and tell the remaining Lloyd’s syndicates yet to take a position on Adani Carmichael, such as Lancashire, Ascot and MS Amlin they must urgently join their peers and rule Adani out before their reputations are irreparably damaged.
TAKE ACTION
Unfortunately, some Lloyd’s insurers have blocked our email actions coming through the Market Forces website thinking that would silence us, but we have now created a workaround to make sure that your email will still reach them.
Make sure you’re signed-in to your email program and then use this form to tell the remaining Lloyd’s insurers that insuring Carmichael coal is terrible for the climate, the Great Barrier Reef, water supplies, biodiversity and their reputations!