While insurance companies have long been aware of the risk of climate change—rising premiums, increasing losses—they have also become some of the biggest financiers of fossil fuels, a leading cause of climate change, Fast Company reports.
Fossil fuel companies accounted for 4.4% of the investment portfolio of the insurance industry in 2023, up from 3.8% nine years earlier. Two insurance giants, Berkshire Hathaway and State Farm, increased their fossil fuel positions by around $200 billion in that period.
Overall, however, more than half of the country’s 238 property and casualty insurers recently surveyed by The Wall Street Journal have reduced their investments in oil, gas, and coal over the past decade. But while insurers around the world have restricted their coverage of fossil fuel projects, U.S. companies continue to write policies for conventional oil and gas projects.
Spokespersons for State Farm and Berkshire Hathaway did not respond to requests for comment.
