Call on insurance associations to speak up for a green and fair recovery from COVID-19

A joint letter from various environmental and climate organizations calling on global insurance associations to ensure COVID-19 stimulus packages support a low-carbon transition rather than fossil fuel industries, while urging the insurance sector to end coverage for coal and oil and gas expansion.

• The authors argue that government financial bailout and economic recovery programs following COVID-19 present a critical opportunity to restructure the economy toward a fair and resilient low-carbon model, provided they do not succumb to lobbying from the airline, automobile, and fossil fuel industries.
• The letter recommends that stimulus packages prioritize clean energy technologies—including wind and solar power, battery storage, hydrogen, smart grids, and EV charging infrastructure—while phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and maintaining environmental regulations.
• The insurance industry is called upon to align its internal operations with a 1.5°C pathway by encouraging member companies to divest from fossil fuels and terminate insurance coverage for coal projects, coal companies, and oil and gas expansion.
• The document highlights a failure of the insurance industry to adequately prepare society for the pandemic risk, despite executives identifying a fatal pandemic as the world's greatest threat in a 2013 Towers Watson poll.

APA

Reclaim Finance (2020). Call on insurance associations to speak up for a green and fair recovery from COVID-19. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Unfriend-Coal-insurance-association-letter-042720.pdf

Chicago

Reclaim Finance. Call on insurance associations to speak up for a green and fair recovery from COVID-19. 2020. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Unfriend-Coal-insurance-association-letter-042720.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Reclaim Finance |title=Call on insurance associations to speak up for a green and fair recovery from COVID-19 |date=27 April 2020 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Unfriend-Coal-insurance-association-letter-042720.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{reclaimfinance2020call, author = {{Reclaim Finance}}, title = {{Call on insurance associations to speak up for a green and fair recovery from COVID-19}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Unfriend-Coal-insurance-association-letter-042720.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }