After FFDH Pressure, Leading Insurer Rules Out Adani Coal Mine Support
In letter, FFDH called on Arch Capital director and Harvard Management Company board member to act on climate
On the morning of April 26th, Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard wrote an open letter to Eric Doppstadt, a director of global insurance firm Arch Capital who also serves on the Harvard Management Company board, calling on Arch to publicly rule out support of the Adani Carmichael coal mine. Following the letter, Arch has taken the important step of promising to never insure the dangerous and unsustainable initiative — a win for the planet and the future.
For years, the #StopAdani campaign and Indigenous communities have sought to oppose the continued construction of the Adani Group’s Carmichael coal mine project. The mine, which if completed will produce 200 million metric tons of CO2 over an expected 60-year lifetime and could have disastrous impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, would represent a major setback in the fight to reduce global carbon emissions and fossil fuel reliance. It is also proceeding without the free and informed consent of the Wangan and Jagalingou, who own the land on which the mine is being dug. Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard has been proud to stand in solidarity with the front-line efforts to oppose this unjust and unsustainable initiative.
In the face of sustained pressure by activists, and mounting evidence of the environmental and financial unsustainability of the project, nearly 100 financial companies around the world have ruled out support of the initiative. One of the global insurers that had for many months declined to act on the matter, however, was the Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group.
Following the release of our letter, Arch Capital confirmed that it “has not and will not issue any insurance policies covering the Adani Carmichael coal mine.” This is a testament to the immense success that Indigenous and climate activists have had in fighting the egregious coal mine project, and that can be expected to continue until the project is shut down once and for all.
“Arch is now the hundredth company to publicly rule out working with Adani. The insurance industry is increasingly recognising the important role it has in determining which energy projects can be built and insurers are steadily moving away from fossil fuel projects due to their impact on climate change,” said Owen O’Reilly of the #StopAdani campaign.
The Stop Adani movement is one of numerous critical and ongoing fights against injustice by communities on the front lines of the global climate crisis that Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard stands in solidarity with and works to support. Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard looks forward to continuing to take action to #StopAdani, #StopLine3, and against all other forms of fossil fuel infrastructure and financial efforts that stand in the way of climate justice.
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