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Munich Re stops investing in companies whose business is related to coal

The world’s largest reinsurer Munich Re will stop investing in bonds and stocks of companies that generate more than 30 percent of their sales from coal-related business, said the CEO, yielding to investor pressure.

Politicians are urging companies to make greater efforts to achieve the targeted reduction in greenhouse gas emissions agreed in Paris in 2015, aimed at limiting the rise in global temperatures to less than two degrees Celsius. Investors are increasingly using financial leverage to reward those leading this transition.

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Thus, the reinsurance giant Swiss Re announced in July that it would not reinsure any company that generates more than 30 percent of its total revenue from coal business, following the example of the French insurer Scor.

Allianz is also withdrawing

The largest European insurer Allianz has also announced that it is withdrawing from insuring coal-related business in the interest of protecting the climate on Earth.

Munich Re announced last month that it did not intend to follow Swiss Re’s example and limit reinsurance services to companies operating in coal.

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They have now changed their mind. CEO Joachim Wenning stated in a statement published today by the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that they will no longer invest in stocks and bonds of companies that generate more than 30 percent of their revenue from coal business.

He also announced changes in the insurance business.

– In the business with isolated risks, where we can precisely identify risks, we will no longer, in principle, insure new coal-fired power plants or mines in industrial countries, Wenning specified.