Reinsurers turned a blind eye to climate crisis in Monte Carlo, campaign group warns

Campaigners expected climate change to be high on the agenda at this year’s RVS 2025 in Monte Carlo, but came away disappointed.

Instead, said Ariel Le Bourdonnec, campaigner and analyst for insurance and reinsurance at Reclaim Finance, the reinsurance industry appeared more concerned with profit margins than planetary risk.

Reclaim Finance, founded in 2020, works to hold the financial sector accountable for fuelling fossil fuel expansion.

“The mantra of the organisation is to put the financial world at the service of social and climate justice,” Le Bourdonnec explained.

“We investigate and challenge financial institutions for their support of new fossil projects, because they have a role to play in reaching net zero.”

That mission brought him to Monte Carlo, where he attended reinsurer briefings and spoke with industry professionals and journalists.

His overrding impression of the reinsurance sector in 2025 was one of disconnect, Paris-based Le Bourdonnec (pictured) explained to GR.

“I’m not just frustrated, I’m lucid about this,” he said.

“Natural catastrophes are hitting very hard, but it’s not a big preoccupation for reinsurers,” he said.

“They are still posting record profits. The biggest reinsurance groups are announcing some of the best results in their history, while we talk about a supposed protection gap crisis.”

For Le Bourdonnec, the contrast between rhetoric and reality was striking.

“This event is a symbol,” he said. “If it was a real crisis, I would expect a different atmosphere.”

“Instead you see underwriters in luxurious hotels, planning the next renewals, relegating climate among their many other concerns.

“They have ways to escape the real crisis, which is the impact of climate change on society.”

He noted that governments tend to step in to shoulder losses through public-private partnerships, but this comes at a cost.

“Citizens face higher premiums and higher taxes, while insurers keep fuelling the climate crisis by investing in and insuring new fossil projects,” he said.

NGOs such as Reclaim Finance are not demanding an overnight severing of ties with fossil fuel clients, Le Bourdonnec stressed.

“There was a misunderstanding. We’re not saying ‘stop doing business with the fossil industry today.’ What we are asking is to stop insuring the development of new projects—what we call fossil expansion. That’s very different.”

He was particularly unimpressed with the way reinsurers explained natural catastrophe losses.

“At SwIss Re’s press conference, for example, one expert listed urbanisation and inflation as the main drivers. The word ‘climate change’ did not even appear,” he recalled.

“Yet AXA’s recent global risk survey shows climate change remains the top concern for insurance professionals. I’m very surprised it is not reflected here.”

Le Bourdonnec also questioned the industry’s embrace of nuclear energy and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as transition solutions.

“Nuclear is too costly and too slow to meet the urgency we face. Renewables are the best way to provide affordable energy now. And LNG can be even more emissive than coal, depending on the source,” he argued.

Looking ahead, he wants to see reinsurers acknowledge climate change not only in white papers but in business practice.

“They can increase retentions, withdraw from risky areas, and still post record profits. But that means they’re escaping the climate crisis, not confronting it,” he said.

For Le Bourdonnec, next year’s RVS would be a success if reinsurers stopped treating climate as a side issue.

“They need to step up, not just to protect their bottom line, but to support a real transition away from fossil fuels,” he added.