Insurance companies that recruit on our campus are contributing to the climate crisis, and whether you’re planning a career in insurance or not, students can help insurers be more sustainable. There are three things fossil fuel companies need to make new projects: money, legal permits and insurance. Every single power plant, fracking well and oil pipeline must be insured in order to operate. The people deciding whether to give the necessary insurance protections are just as responsible for the horrible effects of pollution and climate change. As some of the biggest backers of fossil fuels and a necessary part of the systems continuing to sacrifice our future, insurance companies are one of the most overlooked contributors to the climate crisis.
The relationship between the insurance and fossil fuel industry is multifaceted. For starters, insurance companies are responsible for making possible new fossil fuel projects; they continue to underwrite new projects knowing the damage it causes to our planet and communities. They are also large investors in fossil fuels – U.S. insurance companies have almost $536 billion invested in gas, oil and coal companies as of 2019. All of this is financed by the premiums that normal people pay for insurance on their houses and cars, which are actually going up in large part due to climate change-driven extreme weather. So, there’s this interesting trail of money coming from normal people to insurance companies, and then further to fossil fuel companies, which causes people to have to pay more to insurance companies. These insurance companies are directly profiting from the climate crisis to the tune of $21.25 billion in 2022 across the industry.
However, despite all this, the lesson is becoming clear, as with so many industries, that abandoning fossil fuels is good for business. These investments in fossil fuels are risky, from both the environmental and economic perspectives. Furthermore, insuring these projects is counterproductive, as the disasters that come about because of a worsening climate are causing insurance payouts to be costlier and more frequent. Specifically, since 2017, payouts for natural catastrophes soared to an average $110 billion per year, and these losses could get worse unless corporations and governments stop supporting fossil fuels.
This is where students can do something about this issue; we have the ability to influence the direction of these insurance companies and can make them stop supporting fossil fuel projects. Hartford, Conn. is known as the insurance capital of the world. As the state’s flagship university, with a strong insurance and risk management program, the University of Connecticut has substantial connections with the insurance industry. In Gampel Pavilion, we see Travelers Insurance as one of the biggest sponsors of our basketball teams. Insurance companies recruit heavily at our career fairs, and we even have their executives on our Board of Trustees. They need the continued flow of talent from schools like ours, and it is time for students to let these employers know they expect real climate leadership.
Right now, across colleges in Connecticut, there is a petition initiated by a University of Hartford graduate student demanding Travelers and The Hartford to end their support of fossil fuels, with students committing not to work for these companies until they divest from and commit to stop underwriting new fossil fuel projects. Similar measures have succeeded in other countries like the UK, and students must now force the issue with these companies here. Even with just the students interested in insurance at UConn, we have such power over the next four years of recruitment for local insurance companies.
Although it is often daunting and scary to think about trying to push big companies to do anything, with some collective action, it is possible, and it is something they are worried about. I encourage all students potentially interested in working in the insurance industry to consider signing this petition and sharing it with your friends. These companies are helping destroy our planet, we can let them know that this is not acceptable anymore.