Press Release – Reclaim Finance and Insure our Future<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Paris, October 29th 2021 – <\/span><\/span> Three days before COP26, AXA announces a new oil and gas policy which is both an important first step and a big missed opportunity (1). \u200b\u200bAXA is the first major fossil fuel insurer to adopt an oil and gas policy, and the document contains new restrictions on extreme oil and gas sources such as fracking, Arctic drilling and tar sands. However, according to calculations by Reclaim Finance, the policy only covers 43.5% of currently planned oil and gas expansion and allows AXA to continue insuring 56.5% of planned oil and gas expansion (2).<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Lucie Pinson, Executive Director of Reclaim Finance, remarked:<\/b> \u00ab\u00a0Despite some progress, AXA’s new oil and gas policy ultimately undermines its claims to climate leadership. New commitments on non-conventional sectors are welcome, but by continuing to offer insurance for 56.5% of planned oil and gas expansion, AXA has derailed both its own commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, and its responsibility as Chair of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance to lead from the front on climate. AXA needs to immediately stop underwriting oil and gas expansion projects and to already consider all companies developing such projects as not being aligned with a 1.5\u00b0C pathway.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Peter Bosshard, Coordinator of the Insure Our Future campaign, said: <\/b>\u00ab\u00a0In principle it’s positive that the insurance industry is now finally starting to shift away from oil and gas. But self-proclaimed climate leaders need to follow the science and rule out all support for the expansion of fossil fuel projects right away. AXA needs to immediately address the massive gaps in its policy, and Allianz and Zurich need to follow up with exit policies aligning their own oil and gas business with a credible 1.5C pathway.\u00a0\u00bb <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The International Energy Agency has confirmed that the planet cannot afford any new oil and gas projects, whether in the conventional or non-conventional sector, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5C. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinoza have called on the insurance industry to restrict their support for all fossil fuel expansion ahead of COP26. <\/span><\/p>\n From 2024 onwards, AXA will no longer provide cover for <\/span>\u00ab\u00a0new upstream oil greenfield exploration projects\u00a0\u00bb<\/i><\/span> for companies with an \u00ab\u00a0<\/span>ambitious and credible transition plan\u00a0\u00bb.<\/i><\/span> AXA lists several criteria that it will use to assess these plans and refer to the upcoming SBTi +1.5\u00b0C framework for Oil and Gas as one of these criteria. Not only is the date very late, the scope of the new policy is also extremely unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
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