Allianz’s board says it’s time to save the planet. They can start with their own investments

Stark warnings about climate change are everywhere. But last week, one stood out for its clarity, urgency – and unlikely author.

In a measured tone, Günther Thallinger, a board member for the insurance group Allianz, laid out how climate change will destroy society as we know it.

“There is no way to ‘adapt’ to temperatures beyond human tolerance,” he writes. “Whole cities built on flood plains cannot simply pick up and move uphill.”

These are not scare tactics to encourage people to buy more insurance. Once we reach 3°C of warming, he explains, the situation locks in. At that point, no one can take on the risks, so there will be no more insurance.

The prospect of an insurance-free world may not sound immediately concerning. In fact, it would be catastrophic for the entire financial system. No bank will issue loans for property or projects that cannot be insured. There will be no long-term investment and no financial stability. “The financial sector as we know it ceases to function,” and governments already hit by costly climate crises can’t afford to step in. “Capitalism as we know it ceases to be viable,” Thallinger warns.

So what is he urging us to do, if not buy more insurance? Again, the clarity is startling. “There is only one path forward: prevent any further increase in atmospheric energy levels. That means keeping emissions out of the atmosphere. That means burning less carbon or capturing it at the point of combustion.

“This is not about saving the planet. This is about saving the conditions under which markets, finance, and civilization itself can continue to operate.”

Allianz has done more than most insurance companies in trying to keep emissions out of the atmosphere. It has committed to no longer insure new oil and gas fields, an effective lever to stop those projects in their tracks. As the pool of insurers willing to provide cover for new oil and gas projects shrinks, the cost of insuring those projects rises – sometimes to the point where it is no longer viable.

But Allianz has another tool at its disposal: its investments. As well as its insurance company’s investments, the group has a number of asset management firms, including the US giant PIMCO. And these are still supporting companies developing new oil and gas fields. In fact, as a group, Allianz held $26bn worth of assets in fossil fuel companies, according to the latest Investing in Climate Chaos report, produced by Urgewald, an environmental and human rights organisation.

Allianz is taking one measure to tackle the climate crisis and another to fuel it. Reclaim Finance, another environmental campaign group has urged Allianz to stop investing in companies developing new oil and gas projects; and demand the same from its asset management firms.

According to the report, one of Allianz’s largest investments is in Venture Global, which is developing a series of highly controversial plants for liquefied natural gas (LNG) near the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. Allianz has also recently been exposed as providing cover for one of these LNG export terminals.

The rapid build-out of LNG infrastructure, urged on by Trump, is locking the world into a long-term cycle of fossil fuel consumption. It risks the catastrophic consequences laid out by Thallinger.

Allianz said its asset managers are guided by the requirements, values and risk tolerance of their customers and that they consider a wide range of sustainability factors.

For his part, Thallinger concludes that “capitalism must now solve this existential threat”. As someone helping to decide the future of one of the world’s largest insurance groups, he can do more than most to achieve that – starting with Allianz’s energy investments. As customers of insurance companies, we can urge his competitors to do the same.