{"id":11711,"date":"2021-05-06T11:48:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T09:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/?p=11711"},"modified":"2023-02-14T17:48:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T16:48:17","slug":"aviva-must-ditch-new-coal-oil-and-gas-by-cop26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/en\/2021\/05\/06\/aviva-must-ditch-new-coal-oil-and-gas-by-cop26\/","title":{"rendered":"Aviva must ditch new coal, oil and gas by COP26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aviva has been loudly advertising its pledge to align with the Paris climate goals and achieve <\/span>net zero emissions b<\/span>y 2040<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u> However, longer term commitments will not be enough to avoid a temperature rise above the 1.5\u00b0C critical threshold<\/span> if we don\u2019t also drastically reduce coal, oil and gas production by 2030. Aviva needs to<\/span> come to COP26 summit in Glasgow with a concrete and robust plan to phase out its fossil fuel habit. Aviva\u2019s AGM today offers a timely opportunity to take a closer look at the gaping holes in its policies.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Aviva’s inaction called out (too) many times<\/span><\/span>
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Aviva is <\/span>at once a<\/span> top insurer worldwide, a major asset owner <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>a major asset <\/span>manager <\/span>in the UK, with US$458 billions<\/span> under management in 2020<\/span><\/b>.<\/span> Its<\/span> policy decision<\/span>s<\/span> can have a massive impact <\/span>on financial flows<\/span>, aligning them with the 1.5\u00b0C pathway<\/span> or on the contrary <\/span>steering them<\/span> towards climate chaos.<\/span> To<\/span> maintain a<\/span> 50% chance of limiting global warming at 1.5\u00b0C, <\/span>fossil fuel production must drop by 6% annually<\/span><\/a><\/u> until 2030.<\/span> This means Aviva needs to <\/span>start cutting down its massive support to the fossil fuel industry<\/span>,<\/span> this year and no later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, n<\/span>umerous reports demonstrate <\/span>that Aviva <\/span>is<\/span> not <\/span>adequately addressing climate change. L<\/span>ast November, <\/span>in <\/span>the<\/span> Insurers <\/span>ScoreCard<\/span><\/a><\/u>,<\/span><\/a> Aviva <\/span>scored <\/span><\/b>only 1 out of 10 for its fossil fuel underwriting activities, and 0 for its investment activities<\/b>. The s<\/span>ame goes for<\/span> its asset management activities. <\/span>In t<\/span>he report <\/span>Slow Burn<\/span>: the asset managers betting against the planet<\/span><\/a><\/u>, <\/span>Aviva Investors Group’s <\/span>policy <\/span>was <\/span>deemed \u201cvery poor\u201d and <\/span>score<\/span>d<\/span> a lowly<\/span><\/b> 23 points out of 100<\/b>.<\/span> According to<\/span> our<\/span> latest<\/span> report published this week<\/span> \u201cCity of Coal<\/span>, <\/span>the climate crimes of UK finance\u201d<\/span><\/u>,<\/span><\/a> Aviva <\/span>is <\/span>the <\/span>8<\/span>th<\/span> bigge<\/span>st<\/span> UK<\/span> investor<\/span> in co<\/span>mpanies listed in <\/span>Urgewald\u2019s<\/span> Global Coal Exit List<\/span><\/a><\/u> (GCEL).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Aviva<\/span><\/b> is still<\/span><\/b> dragging its feet <\/span><\/b>when it comes to <\/span><\/b>exit<\/span><\/b>ing<\/span><\/b> coal<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5><\/span>
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A<\/span>viva investments branches <\/span>hold <\/span>more than <\/span>$1.7 billion in assets in 127 coal companies<\/a>,<\/span><\/u> an enormous amount. <\/span>Last year,<\/span> Aviva support<\/span>ed <\/span>companies <\/span>that, <\/span>in total, <\/span>mined <\/span>more than 2400<\/span> million <\/span>tons of coal and <\/span>operate<\/span>d<\/span> 492 GW of coal power plants. This is <\/b><\/span>the equivalent<\/b><\/span><\/u><\/a> of the total coal power capacities of India, the United States and Indonesia combined<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aviva has committed to exclude, from 2023 onwards, companies deriving more than 5% of their revenues from coal<\/span> but this pledge <\/span>comes <\/span>with a<\/span> major<\/span> loophole allowing Aviva to keep supporting companies if they have <\/span>signed up to<\/span> the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi)<\/span>. <\/span>This is a major shortcoming<\/span> considering the recent approval<\/span> by <\/span>the SBTi <\/span>of <\/span>German utility RWE<\/span>\u2019s <\/span>climate target despite its plans to continue to burn coal in Germany until 2038, eight years later than the 2030 deadline <\/span>required by<\/span> climate science<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s more, <\/span>Aviva will <\/span>not <\/span>be applying <\/span>this<\/span> strict<\/span> 5% exclusion <\/span>until 2023<\/span>,<\/span> which is <\/span>too late <\/span>given the climate emergency we face. <\/span>In the meantime, Aviva will:<\/span><\/p>\n