Insurer Allianz toughens oil & gas policy to help meet climate goal

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Simon Jessop and Carolyn Cohnp

pLONDON Reuters – Europe‘s biggest insurer Allianz plans to take a harder line on insuring the oil and gas industry as part of efforts to align its underwriting policies with the world’s climate goal, the company said on Friday.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pThe move is the latest by a major insurer to curtail insurance to the energy sector, a leading driver of greenhouse gas emissions, and comes as scientists warn of a rapidly closing window to limit the worst effects of global warming.p

pIt follows a report from the International Energy Agency last year which said no more investment was needed in new oil and gas fields if the target was to be met.p

pWith pressure growing to accelerate corporate efforts to rein in emissions, Allianz said from the start of 2023, it would no longer issue new property and casualty insurance to fund new oil and gas projects, and stop renewing existing contracts from July 2023.p

pThe new exclusions would cover exploration and development of new oil and gas fields construction of new midstream oil infrastructure construction of new oil power plants and those linked to projects in the Arctic, Antarctic or coalbed methane, extraheavy oil and oil sands, as well as ultradeep sea fields.p

p“With these new guidelines, Allianz is strengthening its promise to contribute to an orderly decarbonisation of the economy,” said Allianz board member Günther Thallinger.p

pAs of January 2025, Allianz said it would only insure oil and gas companies which were on a sciencebased pathway to netzero emissions by 2050, including the major oil companies responsible for the lions share of emissions.p

pStarting at the same time, Allianz also said it would provide no insurance, facultative reinsurance, or reinsurance for a single risk or defined package of risks, or funding to companies which get more than 10 of their revenue from oil sands, after previously setting the threshold at 20.p

pNGO Insure our Future said it welcomed the move by Allianz, “which raises the bar for the insurance industry” and called on others in the sector to follow suit.p

pAllianz is the 10th major insurance company to adopt oil and gas restrictions, it said, and there was “real momentum now for all insurance companies to adopt oil and gas policies that align with the climate science.”p

pAmong others to have tightened their policies in recent months are Swiss Re, the worlds secondbiggest reinsurer, which said it March it would no longer insure most new oil and gas projects.