Global insurer SCOR has withdrawn from the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), CEO Thierry Léger announced during the company’s most recent Annual General Meeting.
Léger also announced SCOR’s new sustainability commitments that include a new gas policy and more.
It says that the reinsurer will no longer include new projects in the development of the gas field. It also noted that exceptions can be made for insurance and facultative reinsurance for those insured with a proven strategy consistent with a reliable plan to transition to Net Zero based on the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative for the oil and gas exploration and production sector.
SCOR’s new Arctic oil and gas policy states that the reinsurer will exclude specific, sole direct insurance and facultative reinsurance coverage for oil and gas exploration, production and related dedicated projects. in the infrastructure of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) Region, with the outside of the Norwegian Arctic Region.
The reinsurer’s new climate and energy transition measures also include a new oil sands policy. It states that SCOR will no longer provide any new (or increase its commitments to existing) sole direct insurance and facultative reinsurance coverage, which includes acquisition and upgraders.
Finally, its new coal policy states that SCOR will not include stand alone direct insurance and facultative reinsurance coverage for new dedicated thermal coal mining infrastructure such as ports, washing and handling facilities.
The reinsurer also noted that it will not write any new business related to standalone thermal coal mines and standalone unabated coal-fired power plants.
Organizations such as Reclaim Finance said they welcomed these new climate commitments but believed more could be done.
In a recent statement the NGO also called on Léger, to further exclude the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to comply with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 1.5° scenario projects C and meet climate commitments.
Ariel Le Bourdonnec, Insurance Campaigner at Reclaim Finance, said: “Better late than never. SCOR has finally caught up with its competitors and added to the exclusion of new oil fields new gas fields.
“But it is disappointing that the work is not done yet and exceptions are still allowed for companies to transition. The science is clear: a company that continues to develop new oil and gas fields cannot be considered “in transition “. But SCOR sets an example for AXA, which still needs to make a gas commitment.
An open letter signed by 15 NGOs, including Reclaim Finance, was sent in May to Léger calling on him to stop covering new gas fields and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.
These new climate commitments, stated by Reclaim finance, respond to some of the demands made by the Insure our Future campaign, which calls on major insurers and reinsurers to act in the face of climate change.
“However, one demand remains unanswered: the call to stop covering the new LNG terminals. SCOR was recently identified by Reclaim Finance and the NGO Better Brazoria as one of the insurers behind the Freeport LNG climate bomb, the second largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the US, located in the Gulf of Mexico, “added the organization.
Reclaim Finance has asked SCOR about the need to stop covering new LNG terminals, to which SCOR’s management has shown no intention of acting, according to the NGO.
“SCOR does not yet have a policy on new transportation infrastructure that contributes to the development of new farms and locks in greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. SCOR can still provide the cover that allows projects like Freeport LNG to expand. Although SCOR has withdrawn from NZIA, we expect it to maintain the strength it has built so far and announce as soon as possible that it will stop supporting new LNG terminals,” added Ariel Le Bourdonnec .
The International Energy Agency (IEA) plans that in order to limit global warming to 1.5 °C it is necessary to stop the development of new oil and gas fields. It is also said that the war in Ukraine did not change this.
The above is well known to SCOR, which has one of the most ambitious investment policies in the oil and gas sector among French investors but an insurance policy that is far from its peers , Reclaim Finance concluded.
