Insure Our Future Responds to The Hartford’s Latest Climate Announcement
November 9, 2021 (Hartford, CT) – Today, The Hartford, one of the world’s largest oil and gas insurers, announced that it is speeding up its timeline for divesting from the tar sands oil sector. The CT-based insurer will phase out publicly traded investments in tar sands companies by December 31, 2021, which is two years ahead of the 2023 date outlined in its December 2019 coal and tar sands policy.
Additionally, the insurer announced a new initiative to invest $2.5 billion over the next five years in “companies, technologies and funds which are advancing the energy transition.”
However, The Hartford did not strengthen or expand the scope of existing policy measures that restrict underwriting new risks in the coal and tar sands industries in any way. It also just reiterated its 2019 commitment to phase out coal investments by the end of 2023.
In response, Tom Swan, Executive Director of Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG), said:
“The Hartford is acknowledging the need for rapid action to tackle the climate crisis, and today’s announcement on tar sands oil is a welcome step in that regard. However, the global climate crisis demands much bolder action. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is very clear: to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC, insurers should not underwrite any fossil fuel expansion whatsoever. That would be the right thing to do for their policyholders, investors and everyone else.”
Samantha Dynowski, Executive Director of Sierra Club CT, added:
“The Hartford is one of the biggest oil and gas insurers in the world. If it is serious about tackling climate change, then it must do more than invest in sustainable solutions and divest from coal and tar sands. A growing movement is calling on The Hartford to stop insuring all fossil fuel expansion. The Hartford’s policies on fossil fuel underwriting must match its rhetoric on climate change, otherwise its actions will continue to fall short of what its stakeholders in Connecticut and beyond need now.”
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The Connecticut Citizen Action Group, established in 1971, is dedicated to actively engaging the residents of CT in addressing consumer, environmental, economic and social justice issues. As a part of the Insure Our Future coalition, CCAG organizers have worked to hold CT-based insurance companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis, and call on them to divest their profits from the fossil fuel industry.
Insure Our Future in the US is a campaign comprised of environmental, consumer protection, and grassroots organizations holding the US insurance industry accountable for its role in the climate crisis. It is part of the global Insure Our Future campaign, which promotes a rapid shift of the insurance industry away from supporting and financing fossil fuels to accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy.
