‘The Achilles heel of the fossil fuel industry’: Why climate activists are targeting insurance firms

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on Euronews or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Extinction Rebellion has launched a week-long campaign in the UK targeting insurance companies for their significant investments in fossil fuel projects
• The campaign highlights the industry's crucial role in enabling fossil fuel extraction by providing necessary insurance coverage, which activists argue contradicts global climate goals

🔭 The context: A report revealed that US-based insurers invested around $536 billion in fossil fuel companies in 2019, highlighting the financial ties between the insurance industry and fossil fuel extraction
• The Insure Our Future campaign's annual scorecard points out that insurers in the Lloyd’s of London market are among the world's largest underwriters of fossil fuel projects, indicating the global insurance industry's substantial support for fossil fuels

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The insurance industry's support for fossil fuel projects poses a significant challenge to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change 
• By providing insurance for large-scale fossil fuel infrastructure, insurers are enabling projects that contribute to global warming, making it difficult for states to meet their climate commitments

⏭️ What's next: Extinction Rebellion's campaign aims to pressure insurance companies to withdraw their support for fossil fuel projects, arguing that doing so could drastically reduce the viability of such projects and aid in the fight against climate change
• The movement plans to use protests, art demonstrations, and public assemblies to raise awareness and demand action from the insurance industry

💬 One quote: "The insurance industries have a kind of superpower and they could make it almost impossible for fossil fuels to continue operate," (Steve Tooze, climate activist and member of Extinction Rebellion)

📈 One stat: Over two-thirds of US insurers surveyed held fossil fuel-related assets worth $536 billion in 2019

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