The climate cooperation of insurers has lost almost half of its members after many terminations

LONDON, May 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Three more insurance companies, including Tokyo Marine, have left the United Nations-backed Net Zero climate alliance, bringing the group to about half the number of members it had two months ago. Pressure.

Some Republican politicians have launched a campaign against financial institutions cooperating to curb carbon emissions, and a group of Republican lawyers have turned their attention to insurers, accusing them of violating antitrust laws in the United States.

Japan insurer Tokyo Marine (8766.T) is not listed as a member on the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) website. A Tokyo Marine spokesman was not immediately available for comment outside Japan business hours.

Another Japanese firm, MS&AD Insurance Group ( 8725.T ), is leaving less than a year after joining, it said in a statement on Monday. He said we will continue our journey to achieve Net Zero by 2050 together with stakeholders.

Spain-based Grupo Catalana Occidentate (GICO.MC) said in a statement that it was withdrawing and that it believed it could “continue to advance our sustainability goals independently outside the alliance.” I will not explain why he left.

The organization added that NZIA helps its members define their carbon footprint and “sets progressive, science-based targets that will enable them to contribute to climate neutrality”.

An NZIA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the year Established in 2019, the NZIA is now down to 17 members, compared to 28 two weeks ago and 30 at the end of March, according to its website.

Legal experts say it’s difficult to prosecute insurers for antitrust, but wary global insurers are concerned about a clash with US Republicans.

There have been few exits since late March, but last week it turned into a major exodus as NZIA lost at least eight members, including Spain’s Mapfre ( MAP.MC ), France’s AXA ( AXAF.PA ) – which leads the alliance – and Japan’s SOMPO ( ). 8630.T).

The remaining NZIA members, including Britain’s Aviva ( AV.L ), Italy’s Generali ( GASI.MI ) and France’s Credit Agricole Guaranty, are set to hold more calls this week to decide how the alliance will proceed from a wider perspective. Members have quit their jobs, sources familiar with the discussion said.

NZIA is one of several industry climate coalitions under the umbrella group of the United Nations-backed Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gifanzi). GFANZ was launched at the 2021 United Nations Climate Summit, COP26, in Glasgow.

A GFANZ spokesman said on Friday that “political attacks” on insurers were undermining insurers’ independent efforts to sell climate risk.

Reporting by Tommy Reggio Wilkes; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Mark Potter

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