Fifty Years of Climate Failure

The 2023 Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels and the Climate Emergency finds that while more insurers are adopting coal exit policies, the industry's overall response to the climate crisis remains inadequate. Most insurers continue to underwrite the expansion of oil and gas infrastructure, and many have abandoned net zero commitments due to political pressure in the United States. The report highlights a contradiction where insurers withdraw cover from climate-affected regions while continuing to fund the fossil fuel industry.

• The global insurance industry's response to the climate emergency is deemed totally inadequate, with no assessed insurers fully aligned with the 1.5°C Paris target.
• There has been a modest increase in fossil fuel restrictions: the number of insurance companies with coal exit policies rose from 41 to 45, and those with conventional oil and gas restrictions increased from 14 to 18 between November 2022 and 2023.
• The Lloyd's market is identified as the world's largest fossil fuel underwriter, generating an estimated $1.6-2.2 billion in premiums in 2022, representing approximately 9% of the non-captive fossil fuel insurance market.
• The Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) has largely failed, with 20 of its 31 members leaving by September 2023 following threats of anti-trust action from Attorneys General in 23 U.S. states.
• Insurers are exhibiting a contradictory pattern of withdrawing coverage from climate-vulnerable areas while continuing to underwrite fossil fuel expansion; for example, several insurers left California's home insurance market while continuing to insure LNG facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
• Gross direct premiums from the fossil fuel industry (excluding captive insurance) increased from $20 billion to $21.25 billion in 2022.
• Coal restrictions are significantly more common and comprehensive than oil and gas restrictions, with the 30 assessed companies averaging 3.8/10 for coal policies compared to 1.4/10 for oil and gas.
• SCOR is the only insurer among those assessed that refuses to invest in any companies with upstream oil and gas expansion plans.

APA

Robinson, K. S., & Bosshard, P. (2023). Fifty Years of Climate Failure. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fifty-years-of-climate-failure.pdf

Chicago

Robinson, Kim Stanley, and Peter Bosshard. Fifty Years of Climate Failure. Reclaim Finance, 2023. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fifty-years-of-climate-failure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Robinson |first1=Kim Stanley |last2=Bosshard |first2=Peter |title=Fifty Years of Climate Failure |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=November 2023 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fifty-years-of-climate-failure.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{robinson2023fifty, author = {Robinson, Kim Stanley and Bosshard, Peter}, title = {{Fifty Years of Climate Failure}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fifty-years-of-climate-failure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }