AON must Insure Our Survival

As Valencia in Spain experienced horrific flooding killing more than 200 people, with 1500 still missing, members of Sheffield Extinction Rebellion gathered outside the office of AON on Napier Street. 

Climate scientist Bill McGuire explained on Twitter “ What’s happening in Valencia is awful. But we are only seeing this because it is happening in a white, developed, nation, at the heart of Europe. The truth is that the supercharging of extreme weather means this sort of catastrophe is happening somewhere almost every day.”

The bills to clean up climate disasters should be charged to oil and gas companies. Instead, governments around the world continue to subsidise them with trillions of dollars of taxpayers’ money every year. Insurance companies increase our bills or deny us insurance because the risk of flooding has increased. Yet they continue to insure oil and gas projects that make these disasters more likely. Why should the people of Catcliffe not be able to get insurance, when oil and gas companies can?

The AON protest was part of the national week-long Insure Our Survival action, in which Insurance Companies and Brokers nationwide were targeted by Extinction Rebellion with protests and occupations demanding they stop insuring new oil and gas facilities that threaten our survival.

AON states on their website they have “deep experience across all segments of the natural resources industry—including mining, oil and gas, power generation, renewables, and utilities.” They also claim to be “the business of better decisions”. If that is the case they should be very aware that due to our continued use of fossil fuels, we are currently on a path to 3.1C of heating which would lead to mass crop failures and the end of our civilisation. They must “Insure our Survival” by stopping their support for the fossil fuel industries now. 

Outside AON protesters gathered with soft toys, representing the animal kingdom whose survival is threatened. In a dramatic action, Oil appeared, (dressed in black from head to toe) from a barrel and addressed the crowd. She said 

“I am oil. I am a fossil fuel, formed from the remains of species who came before us. Why would you dig up your ancestors and burn them to destroy the world your descendants will have to inhabit?

I am oil. I need to stay in the ground where I belong. Do not burn me, nor coal or gas. Do not destroy the planet by burning us. 

The world is warming. The ice is melting. The seas are rising. Floods are here now.

It is already far too late but we can try and mitigate. Starting now with companies and brokers like AON not insuring fossil fuels. 

You, AON and your employees can be climate heroes. Stop brokering insurance for fossil fuels and causing climate breakdown.

Why would you continue in a market some insurers have already committed to leaving? They lead the charge!

Hear me. I am oil.” 

A delegation attempted to deliver letters to the AON Executives but apparently, everyone was working from home. They must have got wind of the demonstration. 

Other protests took place in London, Manchester, Birmingham and many other towns and cities. Some were more “spicey” leading to arrests. 

One 80-year-old retired health worker said, “I have just been arrested and that’s fine because it makes an impact, it gets our message out, and the issue is worth getting arrested for.” 

Insure Our Survival spokesperson Steve Tooze said: “Each day this week we will be telling a story about the terrible impact that insurers are having on the lives of ordinary people here and across the world by insuring fossil fuel criminals to keep digging and drilling for oil, gas and coal and heating up the planet.

“Today we are highlighting the climate crisis-driven extreme weather that we have seen causing floods that have wrecked homes and farmland all over the world.

“The campaign has targeted 52 insurers and we aim to permanently toxify these insurance brands in the minds of the public and the business community by strongly linking them with the fossil fuel companies who are causing the climate chaos we all see getting worse every day.

“But we will also be appealing to the insurance industry and the people working in it – to use their power to pull the plug on fossil fuels by refusing to insure new oil, gas and coal projects and infrastructure. 

“Every insurer that declares they will do so will be instantly removed from our target list. Failure to do so will mean the risk of repeated visits this week, and in the weeks and months to come, until they meet our demand.

“Major insurers Zurich pulled out of new oil and gas after our week of actions in February. Italy’s biggest insurer Generali went a long way to doing the same last week. Now it’s time for the rest to get on to the right side of history by following in their footsteps.” 

AON, are you going to stop working with the fossil fuel industry?

Many Sheffielder’s also went to Birmingham for this action the next day.

Claire Green wrote the following to the Star and the Telegraph.

Here is my reply.

Dear Editor

Claire Green asks (26/11/24) which insurers are supporting a genuinely sustainable future.

I’m sorry to say the answer is very few of them. Insurance Companies should realise that many of their customers wish to support ethical companies and want them to stop supporting fossil fuels and arms dealers.  Also, I have yet to find a company that offers me a good deal one year and then rewards me for my loyalty the next- they all try to bump up the premiums and force you to shop around to find something affordable. Unfortunately, as extreme weather increases due to our emissions, premiums are bound to continue to rise as more and more homes are flooded. 

A quick type on your favourite search engine will find excellent advice from Ethical Consumer Magazine and the Good Shopping Guides league table of Insurance Companies where 6 companies are ranked highly. 

I hope this information will help Claire avoid the insurance companies supporting dodgy polluters. 

Yours faithfully

Graham Wroe