Adani claims it has secured the necessary insurance but will not reveal its providers
For Immediate Release: June 20th, 5pm PST, 2019
AUSTRALIA – U.S. insurance giant Liberty Mutual has publicly confirmed that it will not provide insurance for the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia. This follows 13 of the world’s largest insurers and reinsurers also ruling out insurance for the project.
“It’s great to see Liberty Mutual joining AXA, Allianz, QBE, Swiss Re and other global insurers in refusing to insure the Adani Carmichael coal mine,” said Elana Sulakshana, Energy Finance Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. “Now the question is, what insurance company would even consider touching this project when so many of their peers have turned their backs on it?”
This week, Rainforest Action Network launched a campaign calling on major U.S. insurers, including Liberty Mutual, to stop insuring coal and tar sands altogether. And just yesterday, members of Market Forces went to Liberty Mutual’s Melbourne offices to ask the company if it would be insuring the Adani Mine after nearly 60,000 people around the world told the company not to support the project. Liberty Mutual’s statement finally came in response to an Adani spokesperson claiming that they have the requisite insurance in place, but refusing to reveal who is providing the coverage.
“Given its climate impacts, it is extraordinary that any insurer would support this dangerous project,” said Pablo Brait, Campaigner at Market Forces. “AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, and Chubb must publicly confirm that they are not involved in this project or suspicion will remain that they are part of the insurance package that Adani claims to have for this climate-wrecking new coal mine.”
If built, the Adani mine will be one of the world’s largest coal mines and a massive carbon bomb, emitting up to 4.6 billion tons of CO2 over its lifetime, or the equivalent of more than eight years of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. The project also threatens the rights of Indigenous people and the diverse ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef. Adani Group has been forced to self-finance the US$1.5 billion project because more than 37 global banks have publicly rejected financing the mine.
“We applaud Liberty Mutual’s decision to rule out the Adani Carmichael mine, one of the most environmentally and socially contentious projects in Australia’s history,” said Katherine Tu, Australian campaigns director at SumOfUs. “We know that to meet the Paris Agreement’s targets, no new coal mines can be built anywhere in the world. It’s time for the insurance industry as a whole to stop insuring and investing in fossil fuels and start insuring a clean future.”
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Contacts:
Pablo Brait, Market Forces, +61 421 011 182 (Aus)
Elana Sulakshana, Rainforest Action Network, +1 (703) 589-0040 (US)
Photos: For relevant photos of protests against Liberty Mutual please contact Elana Sulakshana, Rainforest Action Network, sulakshana@ran.org +1 (703) 589-0040 (US)