Top 10 US Insurance Companies Invest $51 Billion In Fossil Fuels; 8 Out of 10 Have Not Altered Investments To Address Climate Change Driving Catastrophic Fire and Hurricane Losses, Says Consumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog's review of public filings reveal nine of the 10 largest American insurance companies have considered the impact of climate change on their investments, but only two, AIG and Farmers, say that they have altered their investment strategy in response.
The analysis comes in wake of findings by the
America's biggest company,
View a chart of the results here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2018-10/Top%20Ten%20US%20Insurance%20Companies%20Investment%20in%20Climate%20Change.pdf
"Insurance companies' response to climate change should be to side with the victims, not support the perpetrators," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. "What if hospitals sold crack, doctors offered cigarettes in their waiting rooms, and firefighters gave out flamethrowers? Insurance companies are paying unprecedented claims because of global warming, they need to be part of the solution if the
Insurance companies disclosed the investments and policies in the climate-risk disclosure survey to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Consumer Watchdog noted that the self-reported fossil fuel investment figures have likely been understated when comparing the number to other surveys.
The 8 Top-10 US insurance companies who do not consider climate change in their investment are
Only one
Seventeen insurers primarily from
"It's worth looking at the hypocrisy of
Drier conditions are fueling unprecedented wildfires like Tubbs, the third deadliest in
"The insurance industry is the one global entity that can affect fossil fuel infrastructure," said Consumer Watchdog counsel
Consumer Watchdog said insurance companies' approach to catastrophic fires is increasingly not to sell insurance in fire areas, to raise rates or not to sell adequate replacement costs coverage. Meanwhile, they keep insuring the extreme fossil fuel infrastructure that makes catastrophic fires more catastrophic.
A new coalition of public-interest groups, Insure Our Future, has called on America's insurance companies to follow their European cousins and divest from coal and tar sands companies, and to make plans to stop underwriting extreme fossil fuel projects. Read more at www.insureourfuture.us.
"Insurance companies should not be betting against their policyholders," said Mattoch. "
SOURCE Consumer Watchdog
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