As members of the business community, we the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the economic, social, and environmental impacts of climate change and we recognize the grave consequences of allowing a global temperature increase to surpass 1.5°C. This includes a projection by the US government that, unabated, global warming will shrink the US economy by as much as ten percent by the end of the century.
We are therefore committed to assessing our operations to ensure that they are in line with our commitment to sustainable business practices. Given the growing recognition of the role that the insurance industry plays in the fossil fuel economy, this includes the insurance we purchase.
The insurance industry is underwriting and investing in fossil fuels which we now know are the key drivers of climate change. The decision to continue to support the fossil fuel sector is in direct contradiction to the action necessary to mitigate the climate crisis and to the economy’s long term financial stability.
As insurance customers, we are therefore expressing our desire for insurance coverage in the US market that isn’t tied to supporting fossil fuels and actively supports renewable energy.
We applaud the decisive action that some of the world’s largest insurance and reinsurance companies have taken to restrict underwriting of and investments to the fossil fuel sector. Over 25 carriers have divested from fossil fuel companies, and 19 have stopped or limited fossil fuel underwriting. So far, just four major US insurers have taken such action. These companies have done so recognizing global warming’s increasing cost and acknowledging the urgent need to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy by redirecting financing from fossil fuels to renewable energy as quickly as possible.
We recognize the opportunity this presents for the US insurance industry to join their global peers. We would therefore strongly support similar or stronger efforts from US insurers to address their own underwriting and investments in fossil fuels.
Aligning our insurance procurement policies with our climate goals makes good business sense and is a tangible solution from the corporate sector. We look forward to the US insurance industry joining us in this effort.
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Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Clinic
Art of One
Aspen Skiing Company
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc
Beneficial State Bank
Bigelow Tea
Burton
Capitol Solar Energy
Coherence Collaborative
Communitas Financial Planning PBC
Conscious Coffees
CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS LLC
Creative Creek, LLC
CREDO Mobile
Danforth Pewter
Designs For Learning
Echo Adventure Cooperative
Encompass Insurance
Ganesh Himal Trading LLC
Gary Leffler
Green Innovations Marketing, LLC
Greenvest
Griesinger Films
Hannon Armstrong
Hood To Coast Relay
I(x) Investments
John Benford Photography
Just Goods
Law Office of Ari B. Gould
Lemonade
Looptworks
Lynda Hanshaw Management Consulting
Midori Law Group, P.C.
Mond Entertainment LLC
Montfair Resort Farm
National Stewardship Action Council
Natural Design Solutions, Inc.
Outpost Sunsport
Paloma Clothing
Patagonia
People’s Food Co-op
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Progressive Investment Management
R Sharp
Relationship Resource Center
Roberta Smith Studio
SANDYS NATURAL SOLUTIONS
Seventh Generation
Skyline Community Church UCC
smartinjector, llc
Stakeholders Capital
STM Enterprises, LLC
Sun Path Electric LLC
The Disruptive Factory.com
therapyworks, LLC
Thrive Resilient
Transformative Wealth Management, LLC
Venner Consulting
Weise Consulting
Wolf, DiMatteo + Associates
Businesses that would like to sign onto the statement can do so here
1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/climate/us-climate-report.html
2. https://www.munichre.com/topics-online/en/climate-change-and-natural-disasters/natural-disasters/the-natural-disasters-of-2018-in-figures.html
