ICHTHYS LNG – Risky support from the insurance industry

Reclaim Finance calls on global insurers not to renew insurance coverage to Ichthys LNG, one of the most carbon-intensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Australia whose promoters TotalEnergies and Inpex are currently planning its climate-wrecking expansion. Based on rare documents from the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Reclaim Finance was able to reveal the names of the insurers already involved in the existing project.

Located offshore from Australia’s northwest coast, Ichthys LNG and its mega infrastructure is among the world’s top 1% biggest oil and gas projects. The first construction phase of the project was insured between 2012 and 2017 by several major insurers such as AAI (Suncorp Group) AIG, Allianz, XL (now AXA Group), Chubb, HDI Global, Munich Re (through its subsidiary Great Lakes Insurance), SCOR, Sompo, Swiss Re, Tokio Marine, Zurich and five Lloyd’s of London syndicates

The project’s developers Inpex and TotalEnergies are now planning an expansion phase to extract gas at least until 2060 thanks to a dozen new gas wells. Experts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) clearly indicated in October 2021 that new gas projects are not necessary in a 1.5°C pathway. 11 of the insurers involved in the construction phase have since joined the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) and/or committed to achieving net-zero emissions in their (re)insurance portfolios by 2050, they must take real action in line with the IEA latest conclusions.

Beyond not insuring the Ichthys LNG expansion phase, Reclaim Finance calls on these insurers to strengthen their oil and gas policies by refusing to cover any new oil and gas production and transport projects (including LNG projects) as well as the companies developing these new projects in line with their latest net-zero commitments.