Lloyd’s, Zurich, Munich Re Come Under Fire For Supporting Tar Sands Pipeline

Unfriend Coal — a global network of NGOs and social movements appealing for insurance companies to divest out of the fossil fuel business — has called out major insurance companies Lloyd’s, Zurich, and Munich Re for providing hundreds of millions in liability insurance coverage to the Trans Mountain pipeline project.

The environmental group’s statement comes after the pipeline project’s certificate of insurance was filed with the Canada Energy Regulator on April 24, 2020.

The certificate outlined the providers of $508 million of liability insurance cover for the 12 months to August 31, 2020 — it also revealed that the biggest insurers of the project are the aforementioned three companies.

According to the certificate of insurance, insurers in the Lloyd’s market have underwritten $460 million for the Trans Mountain pipeline. Lloyd’s insurers are responsible for some $50 million of cover, the rest underwritten jointly with other insurers.

Despite indicating that it had a policy against insuring tar sands infrastructure last year, Zurich increased its insurance support for the Trans Mountain pipeline, the certificate of insurance revealed.