ICHTHYS LNG Risky support from the insurance industry

The report examines the Ichthys LNG project in Australia, highlighting its high carbon intensity and the risks its expansion poses to climate targets and biodiversity. It identifies numerous global insurers that provided coverage for the project's initial construction and argues that continuing such support, particularly for the planned 2C expansion, contradicts the net-zero pledges of many of these firms.

• Ichthys LNG is one of the world's largest gas projects, producing approximately 9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, which represents 10% of Australia's total annual LNG production.
• The project is identified as the most carbon-intensive LNG production in Australia, partly due to routine flaring of approximately 50 million cubic feet of gas daily, which may add 1.5 tCO2eq per tonne of LNG produced.
• The proposed 2C expansion phase could increase the project's CO2 contribution by 30%, bringing total emissions to 590 MtCO2, a figure comparable to Australia's entire annual CO2 emissions.
• The project's infrastructure, including a pipeline crossing the Oceanic Shoals Marine Park, poses risks to biodiversity in the Timor Sea, specifically threatening endangered green turtles and over 26 species of cetaceans.
• Between 2012 and 2017, a wide array of international insurers provided capacity for the onshore plant, including AIG, Allianz, AXA (via XL), Chubb, Munich Re (via Great Lakes Insurance), SCOR, Swiss Re, Zurich, and several Lloyd’s of London syndicates.
• There is a contradiction between the insurers' support for Ichthys LNG and their climate pledges; 11 of the involved insurers are members of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) and committed to net-zero portfolios by 2050.
• Suncorp (parent of AAI) is the only previously involved insurer that has explicitly stated it will not support the 2C expansion phase, citing its commitment to stop underwriting new or additional oil and gas projects by 2025.

APA

Le Bourdonnec, A., Her, H., Maraval, C., & Pinson, L. (2022). ICHTHYS LNG Risky support from the insurance industry. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022.10.05_Reclaim-Finance_Report_Ichthys-LNG-Risky-support-from-the-insurance-industry.pdf

Chicago

Le Bourdonnec, Ariel, Henri Her, Claire Maraval, and Lucie Pinson. ICHTHYS LNG Risky support from the insurance industry. Reclaim Finance, 2022. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022.10.05_Reclaim-Finance_Report_Ichthys-LNG-Risky-support-from-the-insurance-industry.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Le Bourdonnec |first1=Ariel |last2=Her |first2=Henri |last3=Maraval |first3=Claire |last4=Pinson |first4=Lucie |title=ICHTHYS LNG Risky support from the insurance industry |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=October 2022 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022.10.05_Reclaim-Finance_Report_Ichthys-LNG-Risky-support-from-the-insurance-industry.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lebourdonnec2022ichthys, author = {Le Bourdonnec, Ariel and Her, Henri and Maraval, Claire and Pinson, Lucie}, title = {{ICHTHYS LNG Risky support from the insurance industry}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022.10.05_Reclaim-Finance_Report_Ichthys-LNG-Risky-support-from-the-insurance-industry.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }