Groups Launch Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative to Find Solutions to Climate-Driven Insurance Crisis
By Andrew Cullen
It’s no secret that the climate crisis is changing the insurance market in huge ways. Home insurance premiums are going through the roof as climate disasters are in increasing in number and intensity, leaving homeowners, especially those with lower incomes, vulnerable. To address this problem at its root, 39 partner organizations, including AFR/AFREF, have just joined together to form the Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative (EJII) and hold insurance companies accountable.
In 2024, the U.S. saw 27 separate climate disasters that cost $1 billion or more. These disasters destroyed homes, took lives, and put millions of Americans into panic. While on paper this would seem disastrous for insurance companies as well having to pay for so much property damage, and many insurers would tell you this is the case, insurance companies actually play a role in causing these crises.
Fossil fuels are a major contributor to the climate crisis causing massive pollution, and account for about 74% of all greenhouse gas emissions and 93% of all CO2 emissions in the United States. This also warms the Earth, leading to an increase in climate based natural disasters. While this might seem harmful to insurance companies, U.S. insurers are heavily invested in fossil fuel companies, having invested almost half a trillion dollars in fossil fuel companies. Insurance companies are profiting off of fossil fuels and through other practices, they are putting the cost of the disasters that come with this on the consumer.
Insurance companies are increasing their premiums, reducing their coverage, and paying out less, likely anticipating an increase in natural disasters that they are investing in. With these changes, less people can afford insurance, and those who can afford it are paying more for less security. This leaves the population more vulnerable, especially communities of color and low-income communities who already bear an above average burden from the climate crisis.
The Equitable & Just Insurance Initiative was formed to hold insurance companies accountable for these obviously profit driven decisions, and create a system that values people over profit. EJII is composed of a diverse group of advocates working on issues including housing and community development policy, consumer protection, and environmental, climate, and racial justice, with the goal of working together with policy advocates and community leaders to develop solutions to address the insurance crisis.
Toi Jean Carter, co-founder of Louisiana Just Recovery Network shares their excitement about EJII, and hopes of creating a people centered approach to addressing climate change. “We are excited to engage with national partners and other frontline communities, through EJII, who want to see a change to the way we manage risk in a climate changing world and where we focus on real solutions that center people and communities.”
While in a climate crisis that is actively working against us, EJII recognizes that insurers should be working for us. EJII imagines a world where insurance truly serves as a safety net for the most vulnerable populations and is driven to help people rather than to help their own corporate pockets.
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