Specialty insurance and reinsurance firm Aspen Insurance has vowed to cut ties with the Canadian-owned Trans Mountain corporation's tar sands pipeline when its current insurance policy expires this summer.
In an email to Coal Action Network, a spokesperson for Aspen has confirmed that the insurer will not renew the Trans Mountain Tar Sands Oil Pipeline project's insurance policy.
The spokesperson added: “As a matter of corporate policy, Aspen does not comment on the specifics of any application for insurance we receive, any insurance or reinsurance contract we underwrite, or any claim we pay.”
The confirmation sees Aspen join 16 insurance companies that have either dropped Trans Mountain or vowed to rule out insuring the Trans Mountain Expansion Project as climate advocates call for the insurance industry to shore up climate strategies.
Andrew Taylor, an organiser at Coal Action Network, is calling for leaders to mandate all insurers in their marketplace to stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects.
“It's brilliant that Aspen is listening, but Lloyd's syndicates like Arch and Beazley must follow suit, and more broadly, we need a step change across the whole Lloyd's marketplace,” Taylor said.
Sven Biggs, Canadian oil and gas director for Stand.earth, added: “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency reports have made [it] clear that the Trans Mountain expansion project and any expanded oil and gas infrastructure is incompatible with achieving global climate targets. Since this campaign was launched, seventeen insurers have ruled out insuring Trans Mountain, including Chubb and Argo Group in 2021, citing climate, environmental, and social risks.”
