Italian insurance giant divests €2 billion from coal

One of the largest insurance companies in the world has announced a new climate change strategy, which includes major divestments from the coal industry.

The Generali Group, based in Trieste, approved the new strategy last month, which includes a pledge to gradually reduce its €2 billion assets in the coal industry.

At the same time, it plans to increase its investments in green sectors to €3.5 billion by 2020, and offer new green insurance products; these will focus on areas which have ‘environmental value’, such as renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency.

The strategy also includes a goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from what they were in 2013.

Group CEO Philippe Donnet stated: “Protecting the environment and adopting effective actions to tackle climate change are central issues for Assicurazioni Generali.
With this action plan, which follows a series of initiatives undertaken in the last several years, the company strengthens its leadership position as a responsible business, to contribute to a healthy, resilient, and sustainable society”.

The new strategy is the culmination of years of work from the company, which has been ramping up its efforts to make the business more sustainable. This started with the pledges it made to the UN’s Global Compact for corporate sustainability in 2000, and continued with the Paris Pledge for Action in 2015.

In making the bold move, Generali has joined other major insurance firms in moving away from the coal industry. The sector has started to recognise the need to take long-term action on climate change in order to have a future.

At the end of 2017, French insurer Axa announced a plan to divest a further €2.4 billion from the sector, and up green investments to €12 billion.

The company’s reasoning at the time was simple: “If our world gets 4°C hotter, it will no longer be insurable”.

 

Photo: arbyreed/CC