Canada insurers investing in fossil fuels as climate risks grow, shareholder group says
TORONTO, July 10 (Reuters) -Canada's top property and casualty insurers have invested more than C$19.5 billion ($14.30 billion) in fossil fuels production at a time when climate change is driving up risks for the industry, according to a report by a shareholder advocacy group.
Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) called for regulators to examine fossil-fuels investments by the insurers, saying they result in higher claims and premiums.
Insurers typically invest premiums on behalf of other clients and have pumped money into miners and oil companies including Canadian miner Teck Resources TECKb.TO and Imperial Oil IMO.TO, the report said.
I4PC has previously urged securities regulators to investigate major Canadian banks for their climate-related claims and for alleged misleading disclosures about their investments.
Extreme weather, including wildfires in Western Canada and floods on the East Coast, resulted in more than C$3 billion in property claims last year, the fourth-highest year for insured losses in Canadian history.
According to I4PC's report, Intact Financial IFC.TO held C$1.48 billion in fossil-fuel investments last year, which dropped to C$742 million at the end of the first quarter. Asked about the finding, Intact said energy represented about 2% of its invested assets and it was committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Quebec-based credit union and insurance seller Desjardins, which the report said owns C$298 million in fossil-fuel investments, said energy accounted for 0.6% of its loan book and that it would maintain relationships with companies that commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
Peer Definity Financial DFY.TO also holds fossil-fuel investments.
TD Bank TD.TO, a lender that also sells insurance, is the largest fossil-fuel financier at C$15.47 billion, while Fairfax has C$1.53 billion in investment and has underwritten C$809 million.
Definity and Fairfax did not respond to requests for comment.
TD said the report "contrasts the investment profile of TD Bank Group as a whole with those of insurance companies with more focused mandates, which affects the conclusions drawn."
The cost of insurance has risen amid higher risk and inflation. Home and mortgage insurance rates in Canada have jumped by more than 73% over the past decade, according to I4PC.
I4PC has asked insurers for a transition plan to lower exposure to fossil fuels and to disclose those plans.
($1 = 1.3634 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Rod Nickel
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務,允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容,但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限,並受以下條款與條例約束:(i)條款與條例;(ii)風險提示;(iii)完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊,僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意,我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成,也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料,僅適用於教育/資訊類用途,不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議,或是交易價格紀錄,或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容,包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接,皆爲‘按原狀’,並作爲一般市場評論所提供,而非投資建議。請理解和接受,所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容,並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性,而根據法律要求所編寫,而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊,相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。