Dear John,
While Los Angeles burned and North Carolina dug out from Hurricane Helene, major insurance companies paid massive claims while continuing to underwrite and invest in companies developing new, high-carbon fossil fuel projects.
We are watching a climate-fueled financial crisis unfold in real time.
Like an economic canary in the coal mine, the effects of extreme weather on the insurance system – losses, premium hikes, and abandoning
markets as uninsurable – must be a wakeup call for companies and investors alike.
Today, shareholder advocates can elevate the conversation to the level it deserves. | | | Earlier this year, As You Sow engaged five insurance companies – Allstate,
Berkshire Hathaway, The Hartford, Chubb, and Travelers – asking each to measure, disclose, and/or set greenhouse gas emission reductions for their insuring and investing activities. When none were willing to take steps to affirmatively measure or reduce their emissions in line with global goals, we escalated by filing shareholder resolutions.
We also filed a novel proposal with Travelers asking it to disclose how its climate-related pricing and coverage decisions will impact the future viability of its homeowners business line.
Insurers have responded to climate-driven catastrophe losses by annually raising premiums and withdrawing coverage in high-risk areas, leaving millions of homeowners uninsured or unable to afford protection. Travelers alone had a record-setting average renewal premium increase of nearly 20% in California in 2023.
The
insurance industry must stop underwriting climate catastrophe. | | | |
|
As a shareholder advocate, you are helping to ensure that insurance companies won’t be allowed to sidestep this critical issue. This Earth Day, April 22nd, your support will not only benefit shareholders, homeowners, and all stakeholders, but illuminate the larger economic threat posed by climate change, helping to drive responsive changes in corporate climate-related policies.
For the future, | | |
| As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30+ year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, biodiversity loss, racial injustice, and lack of workplace diversity. See As You Sow’s shareholder resolution
tracker. | | | As You Sow
11461 San Pablo Avenue, Suite 400
El Cerrito, CA
94530 | | | | DISCLAIMER: As You Sow is not an investment advisor, nor do we provide financial planning, legal or tax advice. The content of our programming, publications and presentations is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered as information sufficient upon which to base any decisions on investing, purchases, sales, trades, or any other investment transactions. We do not express an opinion on the future or expected value of any security or other interest and do not explicitly or implicitly recommend or
suggest an investment strategy of any kind.
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