Over thirty climate, environmental and consumer protection groups call on the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to scale up climate action and accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels to stop growing parts of the world being left without access to insurance.
Ahead of the IAIS annual meeting in Tokyo, taking place from 9 to 10 November 2023, dozens of groups representing the civil society, wrote a letter, published by Insure Our Future, expressing their “deep concern that the IAIS is taking insufficient action to address the risks of climate change and nature loss and their implications for the insurance sector.”
In the letter, the groups call on the global standard-setting body for the insurance sector to take a precautionary approach to addressing environmental risk; and support credible transition plans that put insurance corporations on pathways aligned with the 1.5°C global temperature rise limit.
They also call on the IAIS to steer the industry away from exacerbating climate risk; exclude insurers that still underwrite or invest in new fossil fuel projects from receiving public support; and ensure insurance supervisors mandate the use of climate science to assess its possible impacts rather than the flawed prevailing economic models.
Marika Kita, campaigner with Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) stated: “The insurance industry first warned about the climate crisis 50 years ago but to this day – despite extreme weather events already causing hundreds of billions of losses a year – continues to support oil and gas expansion.
“The insurance sector should act as a firefighter to help and protect us from climate disasters, not add fuel to the fire. The IAIS are the international standard-setter for the insurance industry, and have a responsibility to ensure that insurance underwriting aligns with climate science. They must steer the industry on a path that is in line with the 1.5°C temperature rise limit.”
Additionally, the letter highlighted that even though insurance payouts due to natural catastrophes topped $120 billion in 2022, many insurers are responding to the increased risks by pulling out of some climate-affected regions or significantly raising premiums to unaffordable levels.
“This march toward greater and greater regions without insurance coverage creates serious risks for the communities and businesses whose risks the industry is supposed to manage. It also creates serious risks to the insurance industry itself,” the letter states.
Groups from the US, Japan, Korea, the UK, Costa Rica and various European countries have signed the letter. As well as international organisations including the Rainforest Action Network, Reclaim Finance, Ekō, Oil Change International, Urgewald, ShareAction, Positive Money and WWF.
