Allianz has become the seventh insurer to commit to not providing coverage to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The pressure group #StopEACOP says that the insurer has sent it an email to confirm that they will not be ‘providing direct insurance’ to the project since ‘it neither meets our climate ambition nor falls within our ESG risk profile’.
Omar Elmawi, coordinator of the #StopEACOP campaign, said: “It is now official, 7 out of the 15 (re)insurers we have approached have concluded that EACOP is a huge risk for them to underwrite. What are Lloyd’s of London and the others waiting for? Insurers must not be accomplices to climate-wrecking fossil fuel projects like EACOP which is mired in human rights violations, unprecedented climate consequences, and social and environmental harms.”
According to #StopEACOP, Munich Re, Zurich, AXA, SCOR, Swiss Re, and Hannover Re have ruled out insuring the pipeline. The pressure group says that those refusing to rule out doing so include Chaucer, Beazley, AEGIS London, AIG, Aspen, Chubb, Liberty Mutual, and Lloyd’s.
#StopEACOP has been pushing for a number of the world’s largest re/insurance companies to pull back from the scheme.
On the campaign’s website it states that French oil giant Total, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation are on the cusp of building a massive crude oil pipeline through the heart of Africa, which will displace communities, endanger wildlife, and ultimately tip the world closer to full-blown climate catastrophe.
Their website also said that over 260 organisations are urgently trying to convince banks around the world to rule out supporting the controversial project.
The most-recent insurer to rule out covering EACOP was Munich Re, who announced last week that it would not provide ‘direct, facultative, and primary’ cover for the project, saying that it did not align with its ESG mandate.
