Legislation, regulations needed to hold U.S. insurance companies accountable for profiting from the affordability crisis driven by financing fossil fuel
In a just-released insider memo, senior insurance executives have confirmed what climate advocates have long warned: the property insurance industry is executing a deliberate strategy to shift climate risks and costs onto families, businesses, governments, and communities.
The memo, released by Inside Track with one of the risk assessors writing for The Guardian, shows insurance insiders admitting that they are deepening the affordability crisis by restricting, repricing, and withdrawing coverage ahead of major climate impacts, with little warning to the public.
“Our industry thrives in environments where risks are relatively predictable," the group says. "We are moving into a world that is far from predictable, and we are neither prepared ourselves nor moving to prepare our customers of today, who may suddenly find that they are not our customers tomorrow. Even if we reject any broader moral responsibility, we have a self-interest in not just pricing and timing risk but in helping to reduce it – something that is within our power and yet off our agenda.”
Rainforest Action Network, Green America, and Stop the Money Pipeline have long warned that the property insurance industry’s practices of raising rates, not renewing policies, and not paying claims are making climate-vulnerable communities in the United States uninsurable – and the risk is rapidly spreading nationwide.
Particularly troubling is that most large U.S. insurers continue to insure fossil fuel projects and invest billions of dollars in the fossil fuel industry that is driving the extreme weather and climate impacts battering our communities.
According to insurance industry data from 2025, fossil fuel investments by major U.S. insurance companies include:
| Insurance Company | Bonds held (millions) | Stocks held (millions) | Investments (millions) | Portfolio percentage |
| Berkshire Hathaway (parent of GEICO) | 405.0 | 64,316.4 | 64,721.4 | 13.9 |
| State Farm | 10,873.0 | 6,832.7 | 17,705.7 | 5.5 |
| Travelers | 4,567.9 | 0 | 4,567.9 | 4.6 |
| Allstate | 3,858.9 | 214.9 | 4,073.8 | 7.2 |
| Chubb | 2,927.2 | 13.4 | 2,940.5 | 4.0 |
| Liberty Mutual | 2,620.3 | 0 | 2,620.3 | 3.1 |
Meanwhile, a report by Rainforest Action Network and Public Citizen found that major companies insuring Liquefied Natural Gas export terminals in the Gulf South include Liberty Mutual, Chubb, Travelers, and their subsidiaries. Likewise, bid documents reveal major insurance companies underwriting fracking on state parks and public lands in Appalachian Ohio include Liberty Mutual, Chubb, Travelers, and their subsidiaries.
The memo warns that an insurance retreat could destabilize the wider economy: “Insurance is necessary to access a mortgage, allowing providers to manage their own financial exposure. As both domestic and commercial property insurance is limited or withdrawn at a significant scale, we foresee an economic risk that could precede a financial crash in the way that the sub-prime mortgage crisis catalyzed the Global Financial Crisis.”
Immediate legislation and regulation are needed to prevent extreme climate costs from being pushed onto families and communities. Fortunately, legislators in several states plan to introduce important property insurance initiatives in 2027.
“Insurance executives just put in writing what New Yorkers have been telling us for months: their rates are spiking, their policies are disappearing, and nobody warned them. Our elected officials must protect people by holding polluters and their backers responsible,” said Liv Senghor, New York Campaigns Manager for Stop the Money Pipeline. “Bills like the Insure Our Communities Act in New York would bar insurers from covering new fossil fuel projects and require them to move their investments into underresourced communities. Every state needs laws like this.”
"This revelatory memo exposes that big U.S. insurance companies are making record profits while squeezing hardworking families already feeling the pain of high prices. State Farm, Liberty Mutual and their Big Oil buddies need to be held accountable and pay their fair share instead of fueling the crisis," said Ethan Nuss, senior campaigner at Rainforest Action Network.
“Climate change is a systemic risk to the entire economy, including the insurance industry,” said Cathy Cowan Becker, responsible finance campaign director at Green America. “This industry is part of the problem now, but it could become part of the solution by insuring and investing in the clean energy transition instead of fossil fuels. It’s time for them to do the right thing.”
###
About Rainforest Action Network: The Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants, and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through education, and grassroots organizing.
About Stop the Money Pipeline: Stop the Money Pipeline is a coalition of [more than 200 organizations] organizing to fight fossil fuels, end environmental racism, and defend the universal right to a safe, liveable planet. We launch high-impact campaigns that directly challenge billionaires and corporate giants driving global climate chaos and fueling the rise of authoritarianism.
About Green America: Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org
