a joint statement<\/a>,\u00a0along with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and Open Energi, warning governments of the risks of continuing to fund the production of oil, coal and gas.<\/p>\nRecent research by the Overseas Development Institute and Oil Change International found G20 governments spend $444 billion every year to support fossil fuel production \u2013 despite pledging every year since 2009 to phase out subsidies and prevent catastrophic climate change.<\/p>\n
Now, a statement, signed by insurers and investors has urged G20 leaders to move beyond the rhetoric of previous years and commit to a specific timeline for rapidly phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.<\/p>\n
Mark Wilson, CEO of Aviva plc, said: \u2018Making a profit is essential in business. But we will only be in business in the future if we act sustainably and create wider long term social value.\u00a0 That\u2019s just good business \u2013 and not acting sustainably is very bad business indeed.<\/p>\n
\u2018Climate change in particular represents the mother of all risks \u2013 to business and to society as a whole.\u00a0 And that risk is magnified by the way in which fossil fuel subsidies distort the energy market.\u00a0 These subsidies are simply unsustainable.<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re calling on governments to kick away these carbon crutches, reveal the true impact to society of fossil fuels and take into account the price we will pay in the future for relying on them.\u00a0 Energy subsidies should instead be used to create a sustainable future through the social, environmental and economic objectives set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.\u2019<\/p>\n
Shelagh Whitley, the lead Research Fellow working on subsidies at ODI, said: \u2018These subsidies fuel dangerous climate change. If we are to have any chance of meeting the 2C target set at the Paris climate summit then governments need to start a programme of rapid decarbonisation.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is extremely worrying therefore that the G20 energy ministers earlier this year acted as if Paris hadn\u2019t happened by repeating the same empty promises they have been making since 2009.<\/p>\n
\u2018The finance sector recognises the importance of moving away from fossil fuels, governments need to realise they may be the only ones left not moving.\u2019<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.odi.org\/news\/803-media-note-major-insurers-urge-g20-leaders-commit-2020-fossil-fuel-subsidy-phase-out<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Multi-national insurers with more than USD 1.2 trillion in assets under management have urged governments to commit to phasing out fossil fuel subsides by 2020 at the G20 leaders\u2019 summit in Hangzhou, China next month. Insurance companies Aviva, Aegon NV and MS Amlin have signed a joint statement,\u00a0along with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}