(Adds NGO comment)
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - British insurer Aviva
plans to become a net zero carbon emissions company by 2040, it
said on Monday, claiming this was the most demanding target set
by any major insurer worldwide.
Following the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, many
countries and companies are aiming for net zero carbon emissions
by 2050, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above
pre-industrial norms.
The insurer plans to reach net zero carbon emissions from
its investments by 2040 and net zero from its own operations and
supply chain by 2030.
"For the world to reach net zero, it's going to take
leadership and radical ambition," Aviva Chief Executive Amanda
Blanc said in a statement.
Aviva's plans include expanding green investments and
switching to renewable electricity in its offices and to
electric or hybrid vehicles in its motor fleet.
Aviva will by the end of this year stop underwriting
insurance for companies making more than 5% of their revenue
from coal or "unconventional" fossil fuels such as shale gas,
unless they have signed up to the Science Based Targets
initiative, an NGO-led group that signs off on corporate climate
plans.
Aviva also plans to divest from such companies by the end of
2022, unless they sign up to the initiative.
However, Lucie Pinson, director of NGO group Reclaim
Finance, said the proposals did not go far enough.
“If Aviva wants its net zero target to have teeth, it must
immediately rule out all investments and coverage in companies
developing new coal and fossil fuel projects."
Investors are stepping up their efforts ahead of COP26
climate talks in Scotland later this year, where countries will
look to accelerate the fight against global warming.
Aviva is one of more than 30 members of the United
Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which also
includes European insurers Allianz, AXA,
Generali and Zurich.
The group's members last year committed to setting tougher
carbon limits on their portfolios.
Elsewhere, the New York state pension fund also committed in
December to transition its investments to net zero by 2040,
making it the first U.S. pension fund to set the goal by that
date.
(Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Susan Fenton,
Kirsten Donovan)
Aviva (AV.)
