AIG Is Fueling The Climate Crisis

The climate-wrecking fossil fuel industry can’t function without insurance. A growing number of insurance companies are beginning to ditch fossil fuels. But insurance giant AIG – one of the world’s top insurers of coal, oil and gas – is one of the few insurers that has yet to adopt a single policy to restrict insuring or investing in fossil fuels.

As an insurer, AIG is supposed to prevent harm. It’s time to stop propping up fossil fuels. David Arkush, Director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program

The world’s top scientists have concluded that we only have 10 years to avoid a climate catastrophe. This means a complete transition away from fossil fuels. We cannot afford a single new oil pipeline or coal mine. Since fossil fuel companies can’t operate without insurance, it’s time for insurance giants like AIG to stop propping up this devastating industry. 

Thirty-five of the world’s major insurers have already adopted policies to limit support for coal, and AIG is one of the last remaining companies able and willing to insure multibillion dollar coal projects. And it’s not even like coal is vital to AIG’s profits: coal accounted for less than 1% of AIG’s 2020 premiums.

AIG is also insuring oil and gas projects with abysmal impacts on the environment and Indigenous rights. The company has been linked to the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline in Canada, which has failed to obtain the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of all impacted Indigenous communities.

AIG appointed a new CEO, Peter Zaffino, in March 2021. The new leadership offers a critical opportunity for AIG to become a climate leader. It’s time for AIG to get on the right side of history and support a transition to renewable energy.