07/28/23 - Philip's Carbon Market News

Axa says it will stop insuring new gas fields - Reuters reports - French insurer AXA is to stop providing insurance for upstream gas greenfield exploration and development projects, according to an update to its energy policy.

Insurers including AXA have been tightening their policies for fossil fuels as part of pledges to curb emissions linked to their underwriting and reaching net-zero carbon emissions before 2050. However, environmental campaigners have called on insurers to go further. Reclaim Finance said in a statement on Friday that AXA was the tenth insurer to say it would no longer cover new gas fields, but it criticized AXA's decision to allow exemptions for companies that it considers to have climate transition plans in place.

AXA's revised energy policy includes strengthened criteria on coal as well as unconventional fossil fuels extraction. It also expands existing restrictions to include new gas exploration and development projects," the company said in a statement.