Skip to content
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
Insurance Journal - Property Casualty Industry News

Featured Stories

  • Farmers Data Breach Could Impact 1M+ Customers
  • ‘Big Four’ Reinsurers Maintain Property-Cat Appetite
  • Articles
  • Jobs
  • Markets

Current Magazine

current magazine
  • Read Online
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Front Page
    • National
    • International
    • Most Popular
    • Magazine
    • Forums
    • Blogs
    • Videos/Podcasts
    • Newsletters
  • News
    • Most Popular
    • National
    • International
    • East
    • Midwest
    • South Central
    • Southeast
    • West
  • Magazines
  • Research
  • Directories
  • Jobs
  • Features
    • Events
    • Forums
    • Market Directories
    • Quotes
    • Polls
    • Rankings & Awards
    • Insurance Giving Back
  • Subscribe

Insurers Latest Target of U.S. AGs ESG Antitrust Concerns

By Denise Johnson | May 22, 2023
Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Article

Insurers and reinsurers who are members of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), received a letter from 23 attorneys general raising potential legal concerns that might arise from their commitment to collaborate with other insurers to advance an “activist climate agenda.”

The NZIA was launched in 2021 at the G20 Climate Summit. NZIA members committed to transition their underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Current members include Swiss Re, Allianz and AXA.

The letter from the AGs requests documentation and responses to several questions related to potential legal concerns.

That correspondence follows previous letters the group of Republicans sent to asset and financial members of the climate group. They consider the environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement unlawful activism and agenda that will be pushed onto insurance consumers.

Concern centers on federal and state antitrust laws prohibiting insurers from altering contract terms for reasons not reasonably related to the risk or expense of providing the insurance.

According to global business law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, companies may increase antitrust risks through their climate-driven initiatives, by not managing benchmarking goals, supply chains and vendors appropriately, and by engaging in questionable collaboration with competitors.

Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, along with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who are spearheading the efforts, are specifically concerned with the requirements set forth in NZIA’s first “Target-Setting Protocol.” The attorneys general notes that while NZIA indicates the protocol is non-binding, it goes on to provide explicit instructions and requirements, some of which must be completed by set upon deadlines.

They explain that their concerns stem from the potential detrimental effect the collaboration among insurers, in their quest to advance climate agenda, could bring forth to residents of their states.

“The push to force insurance companies and their clients to rapidly reduce their emissions has led not only to increased insurance costs, but also to high gas prices and higher costs for products and services across the board, resulting in record-breaking inflation and financial hardships for the residents of our states.”

Outlining federal antitrust laws, the legal regulators advise “that certain arrangements among business competitors are strictly forbidden because they are unfair or unreasonably harmful to competition” and could be considered an illegal boycott, if certain businesses are intentionally targeted because they haven’t complied with carbon reduction efforts.

An agreement to fix prices would also be considered illegal, as would placing conditions on the terms of the insurance contract and could lead to a significant increase in prices and possibly to inflation.

They cite additional problematic NZIA “targets” because “they limit the identity of your customers and the scope of your overall business.”

They state the “insuring the transition” target may be an illegal restraint of trade because it places limitations on the scope of your business by forcing your companies to increase the proportion of your business that covers certain “climate solutions.”

This is problematic, according to the letter, because it could lead to insurers pushing a product where there’s no demand for it, while moving focus away from products that are actually needed by the market.

“The ESG movement has spread to every corner of the world’s financial and energy sectors, and unsuspecting Americans are paying the price,” stated Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes. “Insurers have an obligation to protect the interests of their clients, not to advance a radical environmental agenda.”

Noting apparent antitrust concerns, Munich Re, a founding member of NZIA, announced it discontinued its membership in the climate alliance in late March 2023.

“In our view, the opportunities to pursue decarbonization goals in a collective approach among insurers worldwide without exposing ourselves to material antitrust risks are so limited that it is more effective to pursue our climate ambition to reduce global warming individually,” says Joachim Wenning, CEO of Munich Re.

Hannover Re and Zurich also left the coalition earlier this year.

Industry associations and NZIA member insurers contacted declined to comment on the letter from the AGs.

Topics USA Carriers

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Be Recognized as a Best Agency to Work For: Submit Now
Ford to Recall Hundreds of Thousands of Vehicles Over Instrument Panel, Leak Issues
When Luck Runs Out: Where $100B Hurricanes Might Happen
Bank of America Says Autonomous Vehicles Can Boost Insurers’ Profitability

Written By Denise Johnson

Denise Johnson is editor of claimsjournal.com.

Latest Posts:
  • New York’s Delayed Retail Worker Safety Act Goes into Effect June 2
  • Claims Service, Tech, Communication Top Independent Agent Concerns
  • Future of Auto Insurance: OEM-Insurer Ties Could Boost Profits, Loyalty
  • Claims Service, Tech, Communication Top Independent Agent Concerns
More From Author

Interested in Carriers?

Get automatic alerts for this topic.

Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Categories: National NewsTopics: antitrust laws, environmental social governance (ESG, Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), politics
  • Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com
More News
People Moves: Carpenter Taps Aon’s Goodman for Newly Created Role of Chief Client & Growth Officer; Aon Promotes Anderson as Head of Professional Services
Peloton Must Face Shareholder Lawsuit Over Post-Pandemic Outlook
Ford to Recall Hundreds of Thousands of Vehicles Over Instrument Panel, Leak Issues
DeSantis Unleashes ‘Florida DOGE’ in Quest to Kill Property Taxes
More News Features

Read This Next

  • Insurers Latest Target of U.S. AGs ESG Antitrust Concerns
  • Swiss Re Sets Up Task Force to Monitor Tariff Impact
  • 2 Dead, 10 Injured After US Steel Plant Explosion Near Pittsburgh
  • PE Firm B.P. Marsh Invests in New Collateralized Reinsurer to Support Growth of XPT
  • New Law Orders Louisiana Insurers to Show Prior Policy Premiums

Insurance Jobs

  • Sales Agent - Encino, California
  • Insurance Account Executive/Manager Wanted Flexible Hours, Potential Equity - Dix Hills/Deer Park, NY
  • Large Loss Property Adjuster – Field Estimating Little Rock, AR - Little Rock, AR
  • Underwriting Professional Development Program, Commercial Accounts – November 2025 - Chantilly, VA
  • National Insurance Sales Leader – Commercial Property & Casualty - Detroit
MyNewMarkets
  • When Insurance Isn't the Optimal Risk Management Approach
  • Reputation Risk Can Overshadow Ransom in Cyberattacks, Aon Says
  • Tackling Cyber Risks: The Vital Role of Brokers in Third-Party Data Protection
  • DIY Home Inspections Are Taking Over, Firms Say
  • Six Things to Know About Umbrella Insurance
Claims Journal
  • Didi Pays $740 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over US IPO
  • 4.4 Million Consumers' Data Compromised in Hack, Transunion Says
  • FTC Sues LA Fitness for Making it Exceedingly Hard to Cancel Gym Memberships
  • EU Carmakers Warn Combustion Engine Ban Is No Longer Feasible
  • Peloton Must Face Shareholder Lawsuit Over Post-Pandemic Outlook
Academy of Insurance education
  • August 7 EPLI Basics
  • August 14 Managing and Insuring Reputational Risk
  • August 19 How To Write: Flood
  • August 21 Workers' Comp Crash Course

Insurance News

  • News by Region
  • News by Topic
  • Yesterday

Site Search

Features

  • Insurance Markets Directory
  • Forums
  • A.M. Best Company Ratings
  • Industry Events
  • Agencies For Sale
  • Newswire
  • Insurance Jobs
  • Rankings & Awards

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Magazine Subscriptions
  • For Your Website
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Insurance Journal

  • Submit News
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Reprints
  • Link to Us
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Insurance Journal
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
© 2025 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map