Insurers in UK and US lagging behind in divesting from coal, report finds

UK and US insurers are lagging far behind European firms when it comes to divesting from coal-heavy businesses and refusing to insure them, campaigners have warned.

Chelyuskintsev mine, Donetsk, Ukraine. Europe’s four
biggest insurers have restricted insurance for coal. 

At least 19 major insurers holding more than $6tn in assets – a fifth of the industry’s global assets – have now divested from coal, according to a report from the Unfriend Coal campaign, which represents a coalition of a dozen environmental groups including Greenpeace, 350.org and the Sierra Club.

This is up from $4tn – equivalent to 13% of global assets – that were covered by coal exclusion policies a year ago. The study rates 24 of the world’s biggest insurers on their efforts to distance themselves from the fossil fuel industry.

Read the story from The Guardian by Julia Kollewe - “Insurers in UK and US lagging behind in divesting from coal, report finds.”