Lloyd's of London to Divest from Coal over Climate Change

Firm follows other big UK and European insurers by excluding coal companies from 1 April.

Lloyd’s of London, the world’s oldest insurance market, has become the latest financial firm to announce that it plans to stop investing in coal companies.

Lloyd’s will start to exclude coal from its investment strategy from 1 April.  The definition of what is a coal company and the criteria for divestment will be set over the coming months.

The firm has long been vocal about the need to battle climate change, with insurance one of the worst affected industries by hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding in recent years.

The insurance market decided last month to implement a coal exclusion policy as part of a responsible investment strategy for the central mutual fund that sits behind every insurance policy written by the Lloyd’s market.

Inga Beale, Lloyd’s of London chief executive, said:  “That means that in the areas of our portfolio where we can directly influence investment decisions we will avoid investing in companies that are involved mainly in coal.

“Is there more the insurance sector could be doing to help the world transition to a low-carbon economy by choosing sustainable or low-carbon stocks?”

Lloyd’s does not underwrite operations directly, but offers a marketplace to almost 90 syndicates of other insurers.

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