Today, Allianz, currently one of the world's biggest oil and gas insurers, committed to stop insuring and investing in new oil and gas fields, new oil power plants, new midstream oil infrastructure, and practices relating to the Arctic as of January 2023, and will not renew existing contracts for such projects as of July 1, 2023. Insure Our Future welcomes Allianz's climate commitment which raises the bar for the insurance industry, and calls on other insurers to follow suit.
Lindsay Keenan, European Coordinator of Insure Our Future: "We warmly welcome Allianz's oil and gas policy. As one of the world's largest insurance companies and a major oil and gas insurer, Allianz has sent a clear signal to the oil and gas sector and governments that new oil and gas developments are not compatible with the 1.5°C climate target. Allianz has also just raised the bar for all other insurers, which now need to follow suit."
Allianz is the 10th major insurance company to adopt oil and gas restrictions, following recent policies from Swiss Re and Hannover Re. There is real momentum now for all insurance companies to adopt oil and gas policies that align with climate science.
Regine Richter, Insurance Campaigner at Urgewald: "Allianz has adopted a commendable oil and gas policy, but it falls short on gas: the policy fails to rule out midstream gas infrastructure like liquified natural gas terminals, nor gas plants or fracked gas, all of which are devastating to the climate. Overall, the policy shows that the insurance industry is finally waking up to the climate threat posed by oil and gas expansion. Now that Allianz, Swiss Re and Hannover Re have all ramped up ambition on oil and gas, Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, urgently needs to follow its peers and commit to stop insuring new oil and gas.”
Lucie Pinson, Founder and Director of Reclaim Finance: "Allianz gives a lesson of leadership to the chair of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), AXA, and to its other global competitor Zurich. Its policy goes significantly further than the policies announced last year by AXA and Zurich, which allow for continued insurance of plenty of new oil and gas projects. AXA and Zurich must take note of the significant gaps in their policies and act in line with their net zero commitments."
Notes:
- Allianz is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. Allianz is one of the world’s largest and most respected insurance companies, and biggest oil and gas insurers. It has investments of 809 billion euro and a further 1.9 trillion EUR of Assets Under Management via its asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI). Allianz's policy doesn’t apply to its third-party assets.
- Allianz is a founding member of the UN-convened Net Zero Insurance Allianz (NZIA) and chairs the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA).
- Click here to view a detailed overview of insurance company fossil fuel underwriting policies.
- Reclaim Finance and Urgewald will release a more detailed analysis of Allianz's policy in the coming days.
