Climate group asks Marsh to stop serving as broker for pipeline project

Climate group Insure our Future on Monday confirmed it has sent a letter to Marsh LLC calling for it to stop serving as broker for an African pipeline project and has asked the CEOs of Aon PLC, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and Willis Towers Watson PLC to clarify their positions.

In a Feb. 8 email sent to Marsh CEO Martin South, Insure Our Future called on him to make a “clear public statement that Marsh, taking into account the available evidence, will no longer continue to provide insurance brokerage services for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project.”

In separate emails dated Feb. 8, the climate group also asked the CEOs of Aon, Gallagher and WTW to make clear public statements that they will not offer insurance brokerage services for the EACOP project.

EACOP is “more than just another hugely destructive oil pipeline, it is by now an iconic test of climate, governance and policy,” the climate group said in its letter to Marsh.

Reinsurers Hannover Re SE, Munich Reinsurance Co., Scor SE and Swiss Re, and many leading insurers, including Allianz SE, Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Axa SA, Talanx AG and Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. are among at least 22 reinsurers and insurers that have already rejected providing reinsurance or insurance to the pipeline project, Insure our Future said.

The letters follow a complaint filed Feb. 7 by Ugandan and U.S.-based human rights groups alleging that Marsh is violating OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises by serving as insurance broker for EACOP.

Marsh declined to comment on the complaint, citing its long-standing policy of not confirming the identity of clients.

The complaint should serve as “a wakeup call to all insurance brokers,” Insure Our Future said in a statement.