ESG Daily Briefing: Leak reveals insurers of Carmichael coal mine

Liberty International Underwriters, HDI, XL Australia (a subsidiary of AXA) and Aspen Re are underwriting the construction of Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, according to leaked information. The project’s negative publicity, which includes its devastating environmental and climate impacts, has resulted in domestic insurers so far refusing cover the project. Details of the policies were leaked by an employee of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan and reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Moody’s has identified the gaming industry as having high social credit risk, with gambling companies increasingly being held responsible for vulnerable players, and exposure to anti-money laundering government regulations and other measures. This is the first in a 14-part report series examining sectors with high social credit risk.

EDHEC Business School, the French academic institution affiliated with index provider Scientific Beta, has joined the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment – a research network of 26 universities focussed on sustainable finance.

The Korea Exchange will waive listing and annual fees for domestic issuances of ESG bonds starting June 15 according to reports. The programme will be in place for three years. The Exchange will also open a web portal which compiles “investment details and disclosures of each bond on the same day”.

The EU is reportedly backing changes to the climate change plans of the International Civil Aviation Organization which will reduce the amount of emissions that airlines would be required to offset under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation or CORSIA. The amendment involves changing CORSIA’s baseline year from 2020 to 2019.

Korea’s National Pension Service – the third largest in the world – and the Alberta public sector pension fund have completed their acquisition of the majority stake in the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a controversial project which cuts through Indigenous territory and is opposed by the local community. The NPS was previously named in a complaint under the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for allowing a portfolio company to encroach on indigenous land, causing large scale deforestation and poisoning a local river.