Italy's largest insurance company expands its oil and gas exclusion list

Generali, an Italian insurer, will not provide new insurance to companies that are involved in the transportation, processing, and distribution of oil and gas if their energy transition plans are inadequate, according to a statement posted on its website.

Generali has announced that it will not provide insurance policies to cover risks associated with "midstream" or "downstream" oil-and-gas projects, such as new terminals for liquefied natural gas, pipelines of oil and gasoline, and power plants powered by oil and gases.

In a technical note posted on the website of the company in October, the commitment builds on an earlier decision by the insurer to not underwrite risk related to new oil fields.

A spokesperson from the company didn't respond to our request for a comment.

Insure our Future (a non-profit organization) welcomed this move in a Tuesday statement.

Insure Our Future stated that the decision to stop insuring LNG terminals was significant because LNG producers are planning to triple their global production capacity.

It noted that Generali's updated only covered midstream oil-and-gas projects, which it considered to be "laggards", in the transition towards a low carbon economy.

Generali said that it will continue to provide cover for these companies if they have implemented effective energy-transition strategies aimed at reaching a net zero target.

Generali has also introduced new restrictions to its investment portfolio in relation to companies that have been identified as transition laggards. Generali won't invest in any new bonds issued by these companies. (Reporting and editing by David Gregorio; Virginia Furness, reporting)

(source: Reuters)