Sustainability and Insurance: March Roundup
12 March, 2026
Welcome to our quarterly roundup, keeping you up to date on the insurance industry’s most significant sustainability-related news. Today’s topic: How insurance unlocks clean, resilient energy.
Take a listen to Miqdaad Versi (Partner) on the London Market Group’s podcast, discussing the topic: Listen here🎙️
Analysis
How insurance unlocks clean, resilient energy
Listen to the podcast deep diving :
Energy security is a strategic imperative. It underpins economic stability and national sovereignty, yet it is also entirely compatible with the shift to net zero. Investing in cleaner, more resilient energy systems strengthens security while cutting emissions.
The scale of change is accelerating. In the first half of 2025 alone, global investment in renewable energy reached a record USD 386bn, up 10% on the previous year. Of the USD 3.3tn invested annually in energy, more than USD 2tn now flows to low carbon technologies. The sector’s momentum is unmistakable, and (re)insurers are central to its progress.
This trend is evident across the (re)insurance landscape. As we discuss below, many insurers are expanding their support for renewable energy and environmental projects, including biodiversity net gain initiatives and carbon market mechanisms. These innovations reinforce a broader truth: insurance is an enabler of the energy transition, providing the risk capacity and confidence needed to bring capital to frontier technologies.
In November last year, our report with the London Market Group examined this role in depth. It outlines how the London Market’s unmatched scale gives it the capacity to underwrite multibillion dollar energy infrastructure, while its distinctive features of syndication, flexibility and deep technical expertise allow it to support technologies that remain less familiar to lenders or investors.
Insurance involvement can span the entire lifecycle of energy projects. At the precommercial stage, for example, CFC’s intellectual property cover enabled a small UK renewable energy company to defend itself effectively when a competitor in the United States launched a similar product. At the construction stage, largescale carbon infrastructure schemes in the UK are being supported by a collaborative risk transfer arrangement between Aon, QBE, Convex and Berkley Offshore. These interventions often sit behind the scenes, but they are decisive in enabling developers to raise finance and scale deployment.
Recent developments in the wider market underline the importance of continued innovation. As seen in the latest catastrophe loss analyses, severe convective storms, wildfires and other nonpeak perils are becoming more destructive and less predictable. This heightens the importance of robust energy infrastructure and a secure domestic supply. It also increases the pressure on insurers to adapt product sets, pricing models and underwriting strategies that can keep pace with shifting risk profiles.
Energy security is, ultimately, a foundation of national resilience. The insurance sector has a critical role to play in ensuring that foundation is durable. Those carriers willing to back emerging technologies and evolving business models, and to invest in these teams, are helping accelerate the transition, strengthening security at home while opening new growth opportunities globally. Those who hesitate may find they are late to a market already reshaped by the demands of the next energy era.
Deep-dive
Climate risk and natural catastrophes
Munich Re’s 2025 natural catastrophe review again places insured losses above $100bn, driven principally by the California wildfires and Hurricane Melissa’s impact on Jamaica. Strikingly, over 90% of losses stemmed from so‑called non‑peak perils – wildfires, flooding and severe convective storms – with the Los Angeles wildfires the costliest disaster of the year. Losses from these events surpassed the inflation‑adjusted averages across both the last decade and the last thirty years. Traditional peak perils played a smaller role, with the US avoiding a direct hurricane strike for the first time in a decade.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has proposed PROTECT, an EUwide risk awareness tool designed to help property owners better understand and mitigate their exposure to climate-driven extreme weather. The tool would offer tailored resilience measures and insights into how risk reduction could influence insurance premiums. The ambition is clear: empower households and businesses to take pre-emptive action and, in doing so, reduce loss burdens for the insurance sector.
Capacity for the transition
Renewable energy MGA kWh Analytics has renewed its agreement with Aspen Specialty, granting delegated authority to underwrite up to $100m per renewable energy project location for qualified risks. KWh Analytics underwrite energy projects in the construction and operational phases, including solar, battery energy storage systems, and other minority asset classes.
Howden has expanded its renewable energy facility across its entire UK retail network following a successful pilot programme with Howden Scotland. The Aviva-led, Lloyd’s accredited facility covers construction and operational insurances for renewable energy projects and offers a capacity of up to £150m per declaration.
New insurance products
Markel is partnering with programme administrator Greenhouse Specialty to deepen its offer in environmental casualty risks. Greenhouse brings a submissions management platform built for complex environmental exposures, providing distribution efficiency and enabling Markel to bring innovative environmental coverage to market.
Howden-owned DUAL has launched a first of its kind product focused squarely on natural capital and biodiversity net gain. The policy supports landowners in accessing capital to deliver nature positive projects, with the initial policy placed for the Highlands Rewilding Bunloit initiative in Scotland. It underpins the project’s sale of biodiversity and carbon units during this period.
Pen Underwriting has entered the waste‑to‑energy market with a new proposition for anaerobic digestion risks. With limited insurance capacity currently available for this segment, Pen’s single‑wording solution brings together a broad suite of covers for facilities converting organic waste into energy and valuable by‑products such as fertiliser.
CFC is now among the first private insurers approved to underwrite coverage for carbon credits issued under CORSIA, the aviation sector’s carbon reduction scheme. Its CORSIA Guarantee Insurance product is aimed at carbon project developers who must evidence eligible and insured credits to participate in the scheme, reinforcing the role of insurance in shaping credible global carbon markets.
Transition planning
Aon have launched a Low-Carbon Transition Framework for Insurers, aiming to boost (re)insurer engagement with sustainable energy solutions. The seven-step Framework provides a pathway for (re)insurers to capture growing premiums and in turn support the viability of renewable energy projects. For example, it encourages (re)insurers to create innovative insurance products and invest in talent with expertise across climate risk modelling and emerging renewable energy technologies.
Climate Finance
British International Investment and impact manager BlueOrchard have established a new $250m climate finance fund to channel insurance capital into emerging markets. The fund aims to align with UK Solvency II requirements while catalysing investment into small and medium sized enterprises exposed to climate impacts. It reflects growing recognition that insurance balance sheets can play a more active role in supporting climate resilience and adaptation in the world’s most vulnerable economies.
Continue the discussion:
Contents
Climate risk and natural catastrophes
Capacity for the transition
New insurance products
Transition planning
Climate Finance
About the author
Anna Gardner is a Senior Consultant at Oxbow Partners who has worked on strategic engagements. She recently supported the design and implementation of a follow-only strategy for a global specialty insurer and writes about sustainability for Oxbow Partners’ publications. Anna has a particular specialism in carbon credits, having previously advised a provider of high-quality carbon credits on their communications strategy and led a delegation to the UN climate change conference at COP27. Anna holds a Masters degree in Geography from the University of Cambridge.
