Lloyd’s launches climate change plan; accused of ‘greenwashing’

Lloyd’s of London this week published a report – “Insuring a Sustainable, Greener Future” – and an action roadmap the day after a member of Insurance Rebellion, a protest group pressuring insurers to withdraw from the fossil fuel sector, was arrested for throwing a can of green paint over the market’s iconic building.

Lloyd’s is being targeted by various groups attempting to stop the market insuring fossil fuel projects because they claim that it is not acting decisively or swiftly enough to pull out from the sector.

Insurance Rebellion said that it carried out its latest attack on the Lloyd’s building to “highlight the shameless greenwashing being carried out by Lloyd's of London, who continue to insure fossil fuel projects across the world.”

The attack also comes a week after Britain’s Prince Charles launched his Sustainable Markets Initiative Insurance Task Force during a visit to Lloyd’s. The SMI Insurance Task Force, convened by Prince Charles and chaired by Lloyd’s, is comprosed of executives from many of the world’s largest insurers and reinsurers companies. The initiative is intended to provide an “influential platform for the sector to collectively advance the world’s progress towards a resilient, net-zero economy.”

Chairman of Lloyd’s and the SMI Insurance Task Force, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, said: “There is an ever-more pressing need for a coordinated global effort across industries to effect the monumental transformation needed to address the climate challenge. Lloyd’s is proud to play a role, together with the global insurance industry, in partnering with sectors to provide the risk management solutions and investment that will help enable and accelerate the necessary changes and drive action towards a more sustainable world.”

Alongside the new report, the market has also set out a climate action roadmap, which includes practical steps that it says will help accelerate the transition of multiple industries to net zero carbon.

A spokesperson for Insurance Rebellion said: “Lloyd’s is simply pretending to take positive climate action while it still enables huge swathes of the fossil fuel industry.” The market continues to “insure any oil or gas project that pays them a high enough premium. They have a coal exclusion policy, but this doesn't start until next year, and they're allowing coal insurance renewals for another ten years.”  

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