New Hope chief executive Rob Bishop says insurance companies’ attitude towards the coal sector has mellowed, reducing the urgency around efforts to establish a self-insurance scheme for local miners and their suppliers.arose out of a parliamentary inquiry in 2021 which found that mainstream insurers were joining banks in rapidly severing ties with the coal sector.
“We have got good support [from insurers] despite the fact we are predominantly thermal coal,” he said. “We feel support has probably improved, particularly when we went over to the London market. There is certainly an understanding over there, given their proximity to Europe, that [if you want] security of supply, coal plays a part.
“The rush to exit [selling insurance to coal miners], particularly if you are an existing customer, I think has gone away somewhat, and I think that is just out of the reality that the transition will take time and renewables aren’t stepping up in a scale that people hoped,” Mr Bishop said. Politicians in the United States this year targeted the major insurers, urging them to explain to a Senate committee why they were continuing to underwrite fossil fuel projects when they were scaling back insurance for those living in areas prone to wildfire or other natural disasters that could be linked to climate change.Some Australian insurers have set ambitious carbon reduction targets, with Suncorp vowing in 2020 to cease insuring coal by 2025.