˽ýӳ

California ˽ýӳ Commissioner Calls for ˽ýӳ Divestment from Coal

January 25, 2016

California ˽ýӳ Commissioner Dave Jones on Monday asked all insurance companies doing business in California to voluntarily divest from their investments in thermal coal as part of a nationwide call to reduce carbon emissions to do battle with climate change.

To comply with this request would mean making no new investments, not renewing existing investments and selling or withdrawing from existing investments in thermal coal, according to the California Department of ˽ýӳ.

Commissioner Jones also announced that in April he will initiate a data call that requires insurance companies to disclose annually their carbon-based investments including those in oil, gas and coal.

These required financial disclosures will be made public and will be used by the CDI to assess the degree of financial risk posed to insurance companies by their investments in the carbon-based economy.

California ˽ýӳ Commissioner Dave Jones
California ˽ýӳ Commissioner Dave Jones

“Today I ask insurance companies doing business in California to voluntarily divest from investments they hold in thermal coal,” Jones said in a statement. “I am also announcing that insurance companies doing business in California will be asked to provide to the Department of ˽ýӳ detailed and specific financial disclosures of their investments in the carbon economy including coal, oil and gas. We will make this new information public so that investors, policyholders, regulators and the general public can know the extent to which insurance companies are invested in the carbon economy.”

Jones said his decision to ask insurance companies to divest from thermal coal and to require insurance companies to disclose investments in “the carbon economy” arises from his responsibility to make sure insurance companies address potential financial risks in the reserves they hold to pay future claims.

“The movement away from coal and the rest of the carbon economy poses a potential financial risk to insurance companies investing in coal and the carbon economy,” Jones said. “The potential risk of continuing such investments is that they lose value over time or that they lose value quickly. In either case, such investments pose a potential financial risk to those who invest in them.”

Related:

Topics California Carriers Climate Change

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Latest Comments

  • January 26, 2016 at 2:10 pm
    Doug Spencer says:
    The “voluntarily divest” nudge to provide “detailed and specific financial disclosures” data to make “information public” is not the jurisdiction of the California... read more
  • January 26, 2016 at 1:42 pm
    steve says:
    I just looked. there are seven coal fired power plants in California (that feed into the power grid - which means the D of Ins. gets some of it's power from coal)
  • January 26, 2016 at 1:41 pm
    PETE says:
    WHAT A NUTJOB!!!! What on God's green earth (yes, it's still green) is this clown doing regulating the industry??

Add a CommentSee All Comments (5)Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

More News
More News Features