L’ASSURANCE-VIE À L’ÈRE DE L’URGENCE CLIMATIQUE

Reclaim Finance's 2026 report reveals that 62% of analyzed unit-linked accounts (UC) in French life insurance are exposed to fossil fuel developers, despite growing saver demand for sustainable investments. The study highlights a systemic 'blind spot' where insurers apply climate policies to their general funds (fonds euro) but ignore them for UC. Specifically, 61% of UC are exposed to oil and gas developers, and 15% to thermal coal. The report also identifies significant greenwashing risks, noting that 47% of funds with 'sustainable' or 'ESG' labels still hold fossil fuel developers. It recommends that insurers stop referencing new fossil-exposed funds, demand robust climate strategies from asset managers, and calls for public authorities to implement an 'eco-score' for savings products.

• A significant majority of unit-linked accounts (UC) in French life insurance remain exposed to fossil fuel developers: 62% of nearly 7,500 analyzed funds (approximately 4,700 funds) are exposed to at least one such developer.
• Exposure to oil and gas is particularly widespread, with 61% of analyzed UC exposed to upstream and/or midstream developers. TotalEnergies is a dominant presence, appearing in approximately 20% of analyzed UC.
• While thermal coal exposure has decreased since 2024, 15% of analyzed UC are still exposed to thermal coal developers. Five insurers—Goodvest, Green-Got, MAIF, Macif, and SMAVie—do not distribute UC exposed to thermal coal.
• Approximately 14% of analyzed UC are exposed to metallurgical coal developers, with high concentrations in Covéa group insurers: MAAF (37%), GMF (36%), and MMA (18%).
• There is a high risk of greenwashing in 'responsible' funds; 47% of the 1,367 analyzed funds with sustainability-related terms in their name are exposed to fossil fuel developers. This is most acute for funds containing the term 'transition', where 78% are exposed.
• A systemic gap exists where insurers apply climate exclusions to their 'fonds euro' but not to their UC. For example, 24 out of 25 analyzed insurers commit to stopping new investments in coal developers for their general funds, yet continue to offer exposed UC.
• Asset managers Amundi and BlackRock provide the highest number of fossil-exposed funds distributed via UC, with 325 and 244 funds respectively.
• Tech companies are emerging as new drivers of fossil expansion through electricity needs for AI data centers; Microsoft is identified as a downstream oil and gas developer due to plans for a gas power plant in Ireland.

APA

Le Bourdonnec, A., Guérin, O., Masson, A., Mathieu, A., Pinson, L., Werlé, N., Durivault, A., Joyeux, R., & Martin, L. (2026). L’ASSURANCE-VIE À L’ÈRE DE L’URGENCE CLIMATIQUE. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lassurance-vie-a-lere-de-lurgence-clmatique.pdf

Chicago

Le Bourdonnec, Ariel, Olivier Guérin, Agathe Masson, Aurore Mathieu, Lucie Pinson, Noam Werlé, Augustin Durivault, Romain Joyeux, and Léo Martin. L’ASSURANCE-VIE À L’ÈRE DE L’URGENCE CLIMATIQUE. Reclaim Finance, 2026. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lassurance-vie-a-lere-de-lurgence-clmatique.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Le Bourdonnec |first1=Ariel |last2=Guérin |first2=Olivier |last3=Masson |first3=Agathe |last4=Mathieu |first4=Aurore |last5=Pinson |first5=Lucie |last6=Werlé |first6=Noam |last7=Durivault |first7=Augustin |last8=Joyeux |first8=Romain |last9=Martin |first9=Léo |title=L’ASSURANCE-VIE À L’ÈRE DE L’URGENCE CLIMATIQUE |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=February 2026 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lassurance-vie-a-lere-de-lurgence-clmatique.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lebourdonnec2026lassurancevie, author = {Le Bourdonnec, Ariel and Guérin, Olivier and Masson, Agathe and Mathieu, Aurore and Pinson, Lucie and Werlé, Noam and Durivault, Augustin and Joyeux, Romain and Martin, Léo}, title = {{L’ASSURANCE-VIE À L’ÈRE DE L’URGENCE CLIMATIQUE}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lassurance-vie-a-lere-de-lurgence-clmatique.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }