30 June 2026 – French state-backed reinsurer CCR will no longer make new investments in companies developing new oil and gas projects across the entire value chain, according to its new investment policy published on June 29. This is the first such policy for a public reinsurer in Europe, and means CCR will no longer finance companies responsible for exacerbating climate risks worldwide. Reclaim Finance is urging other state-backed reinsurers in Europe, including FloodRe in the UK, and private (re)insurers to follow CCR’s lead.
In its latest Sustainability Report (1), CCR has strengthened its fossil fuel policy by ending all new direct investments in companies involved in developing new oil and gas projects across the entire value chain, including companies developing new oil and gas fields (upstream), new pipelines and new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals (midstream) and new oil or gas-fired power plants (downstream) (2).
The French state-backed reinsurer of natural disasters is setting an example for all state-backed reinsurers by ending support for oil and gas expansion. Insurers cannot claim to be acting to protect the public from floods, wildfires or extreme weather events if they are also investing in fossil fuel expansion. They have a responsibility not to invest in assets that make the problems worse. Other public and private insurers and reinsurers in Europe must follow this lead.
Reclaim Finance insurance campaigner Ariel Le Bourdonnec
While Reclaim Finance welcomes the new policy, it warned that an exemption for utility companies with a “greenhouse gas emissions reduction pathway aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement” leaves the door open to some fossil fuel developers. For example, the French utility EDF claims to have a transition plan (3), but also has plans to build new gas-fired power plants that would make it the second-largest producer of electricity generated from fossil gas in Europe (4).
While different schemes for natural disaster re-insurance exist across Europe, other bodies across the continent have a similar mission to CCR and a similar responsibility to protect the public. Existing national natural catastrophe reinsurance schemes which invest in corporate bonds should follow CCR’s lead, including Spain’s Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros, Italy’s SACE and the UK reinsurance pool Flood Re (5).
Such policies should also be a pre-requisite for the creation of new public reinsurers in Germany (6) and at the European level (7). For any public reinsurer, preventing the climate risks it underwrites starts with no longer financing those risks through its investment portfolio.
