1 Oct 2020

Tokio Marine Holdings has announced its climate strategy, which includes its position on covering coal power projects, a few days after fellow Japanese insurance giant Sompo’s announcement that it will no longer insure or invest in coal-fired power plants in Japan...

However, environmental advocacy group Insure Our Future denounced Tokio Marine’s policy as “weak”, citing the policy’s exceptions and allegedly vague wording in some parts.

Insure Our Future also criticised Tokio Marine’s position, saying the insurer is relying on “unproven technologies” to mitigate climate risks...

Furthermore, Insure Our Future also highlighted the statement’s lack of position on the following points:

• Insuring coal mines and other elements of the coal value chain.
• Commitment to divest from companies with significant exposure to coal, as per the Global Coal Exit List; and
• Acknowledging internationally accepted standards to respect indigenous peoples’ rights to free, prior and informed consent and self-determination over their ancestral territories, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement’s reference for consideration for all relevant human rights obligations.

Several non-government organisations from the No Coal Japan campaign will publish a response welcoming Tokio Marine‘s coal position, but will also urge the company to establish a policy to withdraw from all coal underwriting and investments, and not to insure the controversial Vung ang 2 coal power plant in Vietnam, in particular...