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Industry steps up coal exit

The number of insurers who have made moves to reduce covers for coal businesses has more than doubled to 17 this year, according to the Greenpeace-backed Unfriend Coal campaign.

QBE and Suncorp are among the insurers that have announced plans to limit their coal exposures.

“Action is accelerating. Action is also spreading beyond Europe,” the campaign says in an annual scorecard report.

“Insurers’ action is part of a wider flight of capital from the coal sector.”

But the campaign believes insurers can do more such as ending cover for all existing coal projects, saying the industry has “the power to play a significant role in bringing about the rapid demise” of the fossil fuel.

In the annual scorecard Swiss Re tops the industry when it comes to withdrawing covers for, and divesting out of, the coal industry.