Chubb in climate activist sights again; full press on fossil fuels due at AGM

US insurer  Chubb will face down a fresh set of activist shareholder demands for greater climate action when shareholders gather on May 19, including a call to extend its underwriting caps beyond coal to the full scope of fossil fuels.

Green Century Capital Management will seek a full ban on underwriting new fossil fuel supplies while As You Sow Shareholder Action Account will demand in-depth reporting on the climate footprint of the group's underwriting, insuring, and investing activities, proxy filings to the May 29 annual meeting indicated.

" Chubb is a climate laggard in the global insurance sector," As You Sow claims, "due largely to its lack of restrictions on oil and gas underwriting and investments. In contrast, peers are beginning to address the GHG emissions associated with their underwriting and investment activities."

Chubb’s to-date policies, focused on coal ventures, "are not sufficiently aligned with global efforts to reduce emissions,” Green Century Capital Management concurred in its filing.

Chubb fires back against what it broadly considers a too-much-too-soon approach. Chubb justifies its climate credentials with reference to its longer-standing restrictions on new capacity in coal and planned caps that should trim existing coverage starting in 2022.

"A blanket prohibition on supporting 'new fossil fuel supplies' would preclude Chubb from continuing to consider the complexities of an orderly transition and the reality that there are insufficient alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels," Chubb management said to the Green Century Capital Management demands.

Added reporting demands, if applied to the emissions of clients or investment targets, would likewise run ahead of industry capacity, Chubb argued.

"It would be impossible for Chubb to undertake such a task," management wrote in arguing for a no vote. "We are not aware of any method by which we could reasonably measure the GHG emissions of our insureds."

Chubb has filed a no-action request to the SEC to exclude the shareholder proposals and is recommending shareholders vote against should the ballots go forward.

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