The Energy Mix

Top Menu

  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact

Main Menu

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

logo

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
Advanced Search
Biodiversity & HabitatCanadaClimate & SocietyClimate Action/"Blockadia"Climate Impacts & AdaptationFinance & InvestmentFirst PeoplesHealth & SafetyHot SpotsJurisdictionsNon-Renewable EnergyPipelines/Rail TransportTar Sands/Oil Sands
Home›Climate Impacts & Adaptation›Biodiversity & Habitat›Trans Mountain Pipeline Loses Lead Insurer as Zurich Steps Away

Trans Mountain Pipeline Loses Lead Insurer as Zurich Steps Away

July 24, 2020
July 24, 2020
 
415
0
Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  Print This Story
APTN National News/Twitter

Mammoth global insurance company Zurich has decided to abandon its role as principal insurer for the Trans Mountain pipeline when its coverage expires August 31.

The pipeline’s annual liability insurance contract filed with the Canada Energy Regulator April 30 “had shown Zurich was the lead insurer for the pipeline,” Reuters reports. “Zurich was the sole insurer for the first US$8 million of potential insurance payouts, and the company provided a total of US$300 million in cover with other insurers, the 2019-20 energy regulatory filing showed.”

“If you needed proof that petitions, emails, and calls work—this is it,” enthused Stand.earth, one of 32 groups urging Trans Mountain’s 26 insurers to abandon the project by August 31. “This project is never getting built.”

Like this story? Subscribe to The Energy Mix and never miss an edition of our free e-digest.

SUBSCRIBE

Two insurance companies, Munich Re and Talanx, had already decided to abandon the controversial pipeline.

The energy regulatory filing listed Lloyd’s of London, Chubb Ltd., Liberty Mutual, and a unit of the Munich Re group as other insurers backing the pipeline. Munich Re has “said it would review the contract given its new underwriting guideline on oil sands, which have a higher carbon footprint than conventional oil,” Reuters says.

A Trans Mountain spokesperson told the news agency the company still has enough insurance to operate and continue expanding the pipeline. “There remains adequate capacity in the market to meet Trans Mountain’s insurance needs and our renewal,” she said in an emailed statement.

But in a joint release, Stand, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative, and Leadnow say the decision forces Trans Mountain to search for a new lead insurer.

“The existing 70-year-old Trans Mountain pipeline is a major environmental and public health hazard, with a long history of disastrous spills,” the organizations state. “The Trans Mountain expansion project, which has faced powerful Indigenous-led resistance for years, would multiply these risks.”

“Zurich has done the right thing by refusing to insure the Trans Mountain pipeline any longer. Hopefully Liberty Mutual and the other companies insuring it do the right thing before the end of August and drop it too,” said UBCIC President Grand Chief Stewart Phillip. “Any company insuring Trans Mountain is complicit in violations of Indigenous rights, because the proposed pipeline expansion does not have the consent of all impacted First Nations along the route.”

“Zurich dropping this destructive tar sands project means they’ve seen the writing on the wall for projects guilty of climate pollution and the trampling of Indigenous rights—there’s no room for them in our clean energy future,” said Leadnow Senior Campaigner Cherry Tsoi. “Trans Mountain’s other insurers should take Zurich’s lead and drop the pipeline before the costs of supporting Trans Mountain far outweigh the gains.”

Reuters notes that “all financial services companies are under pressure from environmental campaigners to cease doing business with the fossil fuel industry,” and the Trans Mountain expansion “has also drawn ire from some Indigenous leaders anxious about the impact on their communities.”

The Parliamentary Budget Office reported this week that the federal government has turned a C$29-million profit on Trans Mountain since it bought the pipeline 19 months ago

Tags26 WeeksBitumen BubbleBitumen Bubble Hot Spots
Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  Print This Story

Find more stories about
Biodiversity & HabitatCanadaClimate & SocietyClimate Action/"Blockadia"Climate Impacts & AdaptationFinance & InvestmentFirst PeoplesHealth & SafetyHot SpotsJurisdictionsNon-Renewable EnergyPipelines/Rail TransportTar Sands/Oil Sands

    Leave a reply Cancel reply

    Recent Posts

    • Fossils Create Less than 1% of Canadian Jobs, Making 20-Year Phaseout ‘Very Feasible’, Study Concludes
      Fossils Create Less than 1% of Canadian Jobs, Making 20-Year Phaseout ‘Very Feasible’, Study Concludes
      January 20, 2021
    • Biden Brings a Policy ‘Sea Change’, Podesta Tells GreenPAC Webinar
      Biden Brings a Policy ‘Sea Change’, Podesta Tells GreenPAC Webinar
      January 20, 2021
    • Campaign Promises, Cabinet and Senate Leadership Put Climate at Centre of Biden Agenda
      Campaign Promises, Cabinet and Senate Leadership Put Climate at Centre of Biden Agenda
      January 20, 2021
    • TC Energy Touts ‘Zero-Emissions’ Plan, Kenney Threatens Court Action as Keystone Cancellation Looms
      TC Energy Touts ‘Zero-Emissions’ Plan, Kenney Threatens Court Action as Keystone Cancellation Looms
      January 20, 2021
    • Alberta Cancels 11 Coal Leases, Allows Development on 420,000 Hectares after Petitions Gather 100,000 Signatures [Sign-Ons]
      Alberta Cancels 11 Coal Leases, Allows Development on 420,000 Hectares after Petitions Gather 100,000 Signatures [Sign-Ons]
      January 20, 2021

    News Feed

    Top News

    • Three European Countries Take Lead on Zero-Emission Buses
      January 19, 2021
    • Massachusetts Governor Vetoes 2050 Net-Zero Law
      January 19, 2021

    Read More

    Carbon-Free Transition

    • Three European Countries Take Lead on Zero-Emission Buses
      January 19, 2021
    • Qatar Investment Fund, Colossal Fossil Enel to Fund Renewables Push in Africa
      January 19, 2021

    Read More

    Canada

    • Muskrat Falls Hydro Megaproject Gets $844M in Federal Debt Deferrals
      January 19, 2021
    • Delay of Calgary’s Green Line LRT Could Cost Tens of Millions: Nenshi
      January 19, 2021

    Read More

    U.S.

    • Massachusetts Governor Vetoes 2050 Net-Zero Law
      January 19, 2021
    • Virginia’s 100% Clean Energy Law Won’t Deliver Full Decarbonization
      January 19, 2021

    Read More

    International

    • Transition Off Carbon Could Disrupt 10 Million UK Jobs
      January 19, 2021
    • Investors’ Group Supports Mandatory Annual Climate Votes at Corporate AGMs
      January 19, 2021

    Read More

    • About the Energy Mix
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy and Copyright
    Copyright 2020 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.