Growing number of global insurance firms divesting from fossil fuels

Report shows around £15bn of assets worldwide have been shifted away from coal companies in the past two years as concern over climate risk rises

A growing number of insurance companies increasingly affected by the consequences of climate change are selling holdings in coal companies and refusing to underwrite their operations.

About £15bn has been divested in the past two years, according to a new report that rates the world’s leading insurers’ efforts to distance themselves from the fossil fuel industry that is most responsible for carbon emissions.