Action: Allianz, Zurich, Aviva, stop financing climate chaos

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Email addresses:
media.contact@allianz.com,
Bcc:
marion.zauner@allianz.de, mario.ghiai@allianz.de

Subject: Allianz and Greenwashing

Email (don't forget to add your name and copy the numbered references at the end too):

Dear Allianz Public Relations Team, 

In 2022, as part of a Global Claims Review [1], Allianz warns other insurers about the growing risk of climate litigation, around not only climate change, but also 'greenwashing' and environmental (non-) resilience [2]. The report itself (p14) highlights that 'Natural catastrophes (e.g. hurricanes, storms, floods, wildfires etc.)' represent 15% of insured losses, the 2nd highest category after fires and explosions.

The science of 'weather attribution' has progressed substantially since 2022, with the Met Office discussing the impact of the changing climate on recent extreme weather events [3]. Connecting the two Allianz stories, it is clear that 'Natural catastrophes' are both overwhelmingly more likely now than 50 years ago - and that science is beginning to be used in court to connect individual events to specific 'carbon major' companies [4], [5].

Environmentalists believe that insurance is a weak link in fossil fuel projects [6].  Not because insurers are particularly altruistic - they are beholden to their shareholders who demand profit - but because enlightened self-interest requires they stop insuring projects that leave them exposed to both major climate mitigation risk, and reputational damage amongst their customer base.

Insure Our Future has rated Allianz as one of the better major insurers [7] for fossil fuel policies, but Boycott Bloody Insurance [8] finds that the words don't match the actions [9].  The claims on Allianz's Sustainability webpages are remarkably similar to those found to be illegal in a recent French court case [10], and Allianz's statement on oil and gas [11] still look to 2050 for net zero.  With the UK hitting record temperatures for both May and June, now would be the time to step away, not late 2049.

Will Allianz lead the way and divest from fossil fuels? I would greatly appreciate a response with how you plan to bring your actions in line with your ethics statements. 

Regards

[1] https://commercial.allianz.com/news-and-insights/reports/claims-in-focus.html

[2] https://commercial.allianz.com/news-and-insights/expert-risk-articles/claims-report-22-ESG-risks.html

[3] https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/understanding-climate/attributing-extreme-weather-to-climate-change

[4] https://www.stewartslaw.com/news/increasing-the-viability-of-climate-litigation-with-attribution-science/

[5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09450-9

[6] https://global.insure-our-future.com/campaigns/

[7] https://insure-our-future.com/company/allianz/

[8] https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/ The Boycott Bloody Insurance group also campaigns on the genocide in Gaza and treatment of migrants

[9] https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/allianz-brieifing/

[10] https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/read/totalenergies-fined-for-greenwashing-in-its-advertising-in-french-ruling

[11] https://www.allianz.com/content/dam/onemarketing/azcom/Allianz_com/responsibility/documents/allianz-statement-on-oil-and-gas-2025.pdf

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Email addresses:
media@zurich.com,
Bcc:
gareth.ellis@uk.zurich.com, linda.freiner@zurich.com, mario.greco@zurich.com

Subject: Zurich and Greenwashing

Email (don't forget to add your name and copy the numbered references at the end too):

Dear Sir/Madam,

In an article from 2025, Zurich warns commercial insurance customers about the growing risk of climate litigation, around not only climate change itself, but also 'greenwashing' and board liability [1].  Zurich's annual report from 2025 [2] has the Chairman of the Board of Directors leading his overview (p39) with remarks on 'natural catastrophes' and Zurich's increasing role in risk management.

Perhaps it is the Chairman's job to give bland assurances: perhaps he had not read the former article at that stage, which says: 'Be transparent about your disclosure and honest about your climate impacts. It is vital to resist the temptation to over promise – make commitments based on actions not aspiration' ?

However, the science of 'weather attribution' has progressed substantially over the last decade, with the Met Office discussing the impact of the changing climate on extreme weather events [3]. Connecting the two Zurich links above, it is clear that 'Natural catastrophes' are both overwhelmingly more likely now than 50 years ago - and that science is beginning to be used in court to connect individual events to specific 'carbon major' companies [4], [5].

Environmentalists believe that insurance is a weak link in fossil fuel projects [6].  Not because insurers are particularly altruistic - they are beholden to their shareholders who demand profit - but because enlightened self-interest requires they stop insuring projects that leave them exposed to both major climate mitigation risk, and reputational damage amongst their customer base.

Insure Our Future has rated Zurich as one of the better major insurers [7] for fossil fuel policies, but Boycott Bloody Insurance [8] finds that the words don't match the actions [9]. The claims on Zurich's Sustainability webpages [10] are remarkably similar to those found to be illegal in a recent French court case [11], and Zurich's statement on oil and gas [12] still look to 2050 for net zero.  With the UK hitting record temperatures for both May and June, now would be the time to step away, not late 2049.

Will Zurich lead the way and divest from fossil fuels? I would greatly appreciate a response with how you plan to bring your actions in line with your ethics statements.

Regards

[1] https://www.zurich.com/commercial-insurance/sustainability-and-insights/commercial-insurance-risk-insights/climate-litigation-trends-key-steps-to-reduce-your-risk

[2] https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/zurichinsur6934-zwpcorp-prod-ae5e/media/project/zurich/dotcom/investor-relations/docs/financial-reports/2025/annual-report-2025-en.pdf

[3] https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/understanding-climate/attributing-extreme-weather-to-climate-change

[4] https://www.stewartslaw.com/news/increasing-the-viability-of-climate-litigation-with-attribution-science/

[5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09450-9

[6] https://global.insure-our-future.com/campaigns/

[7] https://insure-our-future.com/company/zurich/

[8] https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/ The Boycott Bloody Insurance group also campaigns on the genocide in Gaza and treatment of migrants

[9] https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/zurich-brieifing/

[10] https://www.zurich.co.uk/sustainability

[11] https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/read/totalenergies-fined-for-greenwashing-in-its-advertising-in-french-ruling

[12] https://www.zurich.com/sustainability/governance-and-positions/our-positions/fossil-fuels

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Email address:
crteam@aviva.com

Subject: Adapt to Thrive report

Email (don't forget to add your name and copy the numbered references at the end too):

Dear Sustainability Team,

In 2025, the Green Alliance published a report, 'Adapt to Thrive' [1], on preparing the UK for climate change.  The Green Alliance is an independent think tank and charity [2] - funded in part by Aviva, as well as groups like the National Trust.

While applauding any effort to hold our governments to account on climate adaptations, this seems a clear case of greenwashing. Aviva continues to insure controversial downstream fossil fuel projects [3], and has over $8 billion invested in fossil fuels with BP, ExxonMobil, AramCo and others [4].

Pressure group 'Insure Our Future' reports that Aviva has 'taken bold steps to stop insuring the fossil fuel sector but must still explicitly rule out support for companies developing new coal, oil and gas projects' [5].

Given Aviva's attempted positioning as the UK's favourite insurer - and YouGov ranks it very highly [6] - will it step up to its climate ambitions? [7]  I don't think omitting Scope 3 emissions from transition plans will fool many people for too much longer!

Environmentalists believe that insurance is a weak link in fossil fuel projects [8].  Not because insurers are particularly altruistic - they are beholden to their shareholders who demand profit - but because enlightened self-interest requires they stop insuring projects that leave them exposed to both major climate mitigation risk, and reputational damage amongst their customer base.

Insure Our Future has rated Aviva as one of the better major insurers [9] for fossil fuel policies, but Boycott Bloody Insurance [10] finds that the words don't always match the actions [4]. The claims on Aviva's Sustainability webpages [7] are remarkably similar to those found to be illegal in a recent French court case [11], and Aviva's statement on oil and gas exclusions [12] still talk about Net Zero as an indeterminate timepoint.  With the UK hitting record temperatures for both May and June, now would be the time to step away, not late 2049.

Will Aviva lead the way and divest from fossil fuels? I would greatly appreciate a response with how you plan to bring your actions in line with your ethics statements. 

Regards

[1] https://green-alliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Adapt-to-thrive.pdf

[2] https://green-alliance.org.uk/

[3] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reclaim-finance-ong-think-tank_what-is-the-link-between-the-british-insurer-activity-7457750201790025728-I7Rg

[4] https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/aviva-brieifing/

[5] https://insure-our-future.com/company/aviva/

[6] https://yougov.com/en-gb/ratings/financial-service-brands

[7] https://www.aviva.com/sustainability/taking-climate-action/

[8] https://global.insure-our-future.com/campaigns/

[9] https://insure-our-future.com/company/aviva/

[10] https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/ The Boycott Bloody Insurance group also campaigns on the genocide in Gaza and treatment of migrants

[11] https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/read/totalenergies-fined-for-greenwashing-in-its-advertising-in-french-ruling

[12] https://static.aviva.io/content/dam/aviva-corporate/documents/socialpurpose/pdfs/Aviva-ESG-Investment-Baseline-Exclusions-Policy.pdf