Groups launch initiative to find solutions to climate-driven insurance drisis

WASHINGTON — Dozens of consumer protection, community development, environmental, climate, and racial justice advocates have joined together to form the Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative, a coalition that aims to develop solutions that can guide community leaders and policy advocates working to address the climate-driven insurance crisis.

As insurance premiums skyrocket, and as insurance companies continue to cut and limit coverage for individuals across the country, more than 30 groups will push policymakers to stand up for communities and adopt policies that put people over profits and hold the insurance providers accountable for the industry's fossil fuel underwriting and investment. 

“The insurance crisis is a direct outcome of the climate crisis, and as the cost of insurance increases, hard-working people are left to foot the bill,” said Deanna Noël, climate campaigns director with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “Instead of protecting consumers, insurers are hiking premiums, cutting coverage, and abandoning areas hit hardest by climate change—all while maintaining record profits. The Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative will demand bold, transparent, and community-driven solutions that prioritize people over corporate profits and pave the way toward a resilient and sustainable future."

In 2024, 27 separate billion-dollar disasters tore through the U.S., causing over $2.9 trillion in damages and claimed lives, destroyed homes, businesses, and entire communities. Now, just weeks into 2025, the deadly LA fires have added another $250 billion to this mounting toll. As climate-driven disasters have racked up billions in damages across the country, major insurers are abandoning ordinary families while continuing to insure and invest in fossil fuels. 

“The Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative is an effort to reshape, reimagine, and lay out the blueprint of the world that we want to live in by working alongside experts and community groups to develop tangible solutions that address the profit-driven nature of insurance companies that delay, deny, and withdraw working people’s coverage because of climate change-driven extreme weather events while simultaneously financing and profiting off of fossil fuels,” said Moonyoung Ko, climate finance campaigns associate director for Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund.

“In the Gulf South, we are all too familiar with what unjust and inequitable insurance looks like.  Insurance companies operate with a blank check in our region, profiting from our need to protect our homes from climate disaster, and then pulling out once they have made their money, all with little to no intervention from our public officials. In our disaster recovery work, Louisiana Just Recovery Network sees time and again how little insurance, which should serve as a safety net, serves our communities. Homeowner after homeowner is met with high deductibles, lengthy assessment processes, and the added risk of losing their insurance if they file a claim. We are excited to engage with national partners and other frontline communities, through EJII, who want to see a change to the way we manage risk in a climate changing world and where we focus on real solutions that center people and communities,” said Toi Jean Carter, co-founder of Louisiana Just Recovery Network.

"In communities across Indiana, rural and urban, families are struggling with steep increases in homeowner's insurance coverage. Because going without coverage puts the largest asset for most Americans at risk, families have no choice but to pay the prices, especially if they have a mortgage payment that requires continued insurance coverage. Families may be put into the position of having to sell their home, and the loss of long-term generational wealth, due to these increasing escrow costs. Those who pay have less of their monthly income available for other needs putting them at risk to financial hardship due to a health care need, vehicle repair, or other unexpected significant cost. Now more than ever, we need to make sure that all homeowners have access to affordable and comprehensive coverage,” said Amy Nelson, executive director of Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana.

The groups making up Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative include Public Citizen, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Revolving Door Project, Better Markets, Center for Economic Justice, Center for International Environmental Law, Climate and Community Institute, Climate Defenders, Connecticut Citizen's Action Group, Connecticut Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, Costa Rican Federation for the Conservation of Nature, Emergency Legal Responders, Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area, Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, Freeport Haven Project for Environmental Justice, Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, Green America, Gulf South Fossil Finance Hub, HousingLOUISIANA, HousingNOLA, Insure Our Future, Jewish Youth Climate Movement - Adamah, Living Rivers Movement, Costa Rica, Louisiana Just Recovery Network, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American, Community Development, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Housing Law Project, National Housing Resource Center, New York Communities for Change, Oil and Gas Action Network, People's Action Institute, Rebuild by Design, Revolving Door Project, Rise Economy, The Greenlining Institute, Third Act, and Union of Concerned Scientists.