Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer, plans to take a tougher stance on insuring the oil and gas industry as part of efforts to align its underwriting policies with the global climate goal, the company announced on Friday.
The move is the latest by a major insurer to reduce insurance to the energy sector, which is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and comes as scientists warn of a rapidly closing window to limit the worst effects of global warming.
It comes on the heels of a report released last year by the International Energy Agency, which stated that no additional investment in new oil and gas fields was required if the target was to be met.
With pressure mounting to accelerate corporate efforts to reduce emissions, Allianz announced that beginning in 2023, it would cease issuing new property and casualty insurance to fund new oil and gas projects and would cease renewing existing contracts in July 2023.
Exploration and development of new oil and gas fields; construction of new mid-stream oil infrastructure; construction of new oil power plants; and those associated with projects in the Arctic, Antarctic, or coal-bed methane, extra-heavy oil and oil sands, and ultra-deep sea fields would be exempted.
“With these new guidelines, Allianz strengthens its commitment to contributing to the economy’s orderly decarbonization,” said Allianz board member Günther Thallinger.
As of January 2025, Allianz stated that it would only insure oil and gas companies that were on a science-based path to net-zero emissions by 2050, including the major oil companies that accounted for the lion’s share of emissions.
At the same time, Allianz announced that it would no longer provide insurance, facultative reinsurance, or reinsurance for a single risk or defined package of risks, or funding to companies that derive more than 10% of their revenue from oil sands, having previously set the threshold at 20%.
The non-profit Insure Our Future applauded Allianz’s decision, saying it “raises the bar for the insurance industry” and urged others in the industry to follow suit.
According to the company, Allianz is the tenth major insurance company to impose oil and gas restrictions, and there is “real momentum now for all insurance companies to adopt oil and gas policies that align with climate science.”
Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, announced in March that it would no longer insure most new oil and gas projects, among others who have tightened their policies in recent months.