THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

The report finds that Lloyd’s of London's fossil fuel guidelines are inadequate and lack enforcement, leading to a wide disparity in climate policies among its top 20 managing agents. While some agents have adopted best-in-class exclusions, many others ignore Lloyd's recommendations entirely, continuing to provide insurance for coal, oil, and gas expansion. The document highlights specific 'carbon bomb' projects—including pipelines in Canada and East Africa and mines in Australia—that continue to receive market support, and calls for Lloyd's to implement mandatory enforcement mechanisms and strengthen its exclusions to align with a 1.5°C pathway.

• Lloyd’s of London fails to enforce its 2020 ESG recommendations, which asked managing agents to stop covering new coal plants, mines, oil sands, and Arctic energy exploration by January 2022; instead, it leaves application to the "discretion of its managing agents".
• Among the top 20 managing agents, six have adopted no fossil fuel restrictions at all, including RiverStone Managing Agency, Chaucer Syndicates, RenaissanceRe Syndicate Management, Ascot Underwriting, Aegis Managing Agency, and Atrium Underwriters.
• Coal policy adoption is inconsistent: only 12 of the top 20 managing agents have exclusions for certain new coal mines and power plants, and only six have comprehensive exclusions for new coal projects and dedicated infrastructure.
• Underwriting restrictions for unconventional oil and gas are limited to 11 of the top 20 agents, and these policies vary significantly because Lloyd's provided no clear definition of the "Arctic" area.
• Only two managing agents—Argenta Syndicate Management and Munich Re Syndicate—have committed to not providing insurance cover for new oil and gas fields, while AXA XL Underwriting Agencies has committed only to stop support for new oil fields.
• The Lloyd's market continues to support highly controversial projects, such as the Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda and Tanzania, the Ichthys LNG project in Australia, and the Adani Carmichael mine in Australia.

APA

Le Bourdonnec, A. (2023). THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-06-Report_The-Good-The-Bad-And-The-Ugly_The-Fossil-Fuel-Policies-of-Lloyds-Managing-Agents.pdf

Chicago

Le Bourdonnec, Ariel. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Reclaim Finance, 2023. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-06-Report_The-Good-The-Bad-And-The-Ugly_The-Fossil-Fuel-Policies-of-Lloyds-Managing-Agents.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Le Bourdonnec |first1=Ariel |title=THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=March 2023 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-06-Report_The-Good-The-Bad-And-The-Ugly_The-Fossil-Fuel-Policies-of-Lloyds-Managing-Agents.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lebourdonnec2023good, author = {Le Bourdonnec, Ariel}, title = {{THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-06-Report_The-Good-The-Bad-And-The-Ugly_The-Fossil-Fuel-Policies-of-Lloyds-Managing-Agents.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }