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Insurance divestment campaign

Advocacy campaign by non-governmental organizations that publishes an annual scorecard ranking insurers on their real fossil-fuel exit commitments, to exert direct reputational pressure.

Definition

The insurance divestment campaign refers to the mobilization of specialized non-governmental organizations, including the Insure Our Future coalition active since 2019, which publish an annual comparative scorecard ranking major insurers and reinsurers on the actual rigor of their coal, oil and gas exclusion policies, beyond mere statements of intent. This pressure operates through publicity rather than regulation: the annual scorecard, widely covered in trade and general press, publicly exposes the gap between an insurer's stated climate commitments and the real content of its underwriting policies and investments, a transparency exercise the insurer does not control itself. For the sector, this pressure has had a measurable effect on the timing and scope of coal exclusion policies adopted since 2019, with insurers seeking to avoid the negative publicity of a poor ranking as much as the underlying physical or transition risk itself. It illustrates a governance mechanism external to the sector, complementary to mandatory regulation, that operates on reputation rather than on law.

Example

Since 2019, the annual scorecard published by Insure Our Future has compared the fossil-fuel exclusion policies of dozens of global insurers and reinsurers, and has been cited as an accelerating factor by several groups that tightened their coal policy shortly after receiving a poor ranking.

Related terms
Also known as

Insure Our Future, campagne anti-charbon assureurs, insurance divestment