Protesters welcome workers back to Lloyd’s

Lloyd’s closed its doors on 19 March to keep in line with the government advice to avoid all non-essential contact in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today, the underwriting hall reopened for the first time in five months, with limited access to its underwriting room.

Previously, Lloyd’s announced that the number of people who will be admitted to the building will be capped at 45% of capacity at reopening, and only Lloyd’s pass holders will be permitted access.

In its latest guidance, Lloyd’s said that face coverings will be mandatory in all public areas of the building, including reception, lift lobbies, lifts, bathrooms, coffee shop and the underwriting box. The masks can be removed when at the box or in the meetings.

Employees returning to the underwriting hall today were welcomed by Insure Our Future campaigners. The protesters were wearing masks and gloves and holding banners that said “Lloyd’s wash your hands of tar and coal” and “Lloyd’s wash your hands of Adani and Trans Mountain”.

The campaigners were handing out leaflets with a letter asking Lloyd’s to “stop insuring, investing in, supporting and enabling fossil fuel projects and companies driving the climate breakdown” (see box). They were also giving out free hand sanitisers with messages urging the corporation to steer clear of the controversial projects.

Lloyd’s is failing to take meaningful action on climate change, and undermining the positive climate action of other insurers, according to Insure Our Future, the organiser of the protest.

Amanda Starbuck, campaigner with the Insure Our Future network, said: “We’re here this morning at the Lloyd’s of London headquarters because it’s reopening day.

“This is the first day back for staff, so we’re participating in this activity to send a strong message about climate change to Lloyd’s members and staff. We’ve got banners, mobile billboards ready to put across our message, which is that Lloyd’s needs to take action on climate change seriously, and specifically stop funding the worst fossil fuel projects that are driving climate change and as a first step, wash the hands of coal on tar sands.”

Only around 50 Lloyd’s staff were seen entering the building this morning. Most were wearing suits and ties, appearing ready to get back to business.

Starbuck, said: “Some employees have stopped and have taken these letters that we’ve written on the leaflets. To be honest, there’s not very many staff here this morning.

“It’s a very gradual return to work here at Lloyd’s but they are doing business so they need to hear the message.

“We would be very happy to talk to any staff members that are coming in and out, we really want to get this conversation going inside the building because unfortunately Lloyd’s refused to correspond with Insure Our Future in writing. They refused to meet with us to discuss these issues and that’s no good.”

Insure Our Future pointed out that since 2017, 19 insurance companies have ended or restricted insurance for coal projects, including Swiss Re, Zurich, Axa, Generali, QBE, Allianz and Chubb.

“It’s 2020, Science tells us we’ve to take climate action, we’ve got global Paris climate accord, but Lloyd’s is not yet playing its part,” Starbuck said. 

By 12pm, the protest was joined by campaigners wearing masks depicting Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chairman of Lloyd’s, with banners reading “What is climate change, and what is just bad weather? - Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Lloyd’s chairman” and “Lloyd’s on the wrong side of history… Again!”. 

Starbuck said: “We’ve had a lot of interest, a lot of support from some of the Lloyd’s staff, so we hope that this carries inside the building.

“We spoke to someone from a different company, who stopped and told us their company has stopped funding coal, I don’t know which company he was with, but there are a number of insurance groups that have agreed to exclude coal. 

“This is just a start. We are going to keep calling on Lloyd’s to take action on climate change until they make the commitment that we need them to make,” Starbuck concluded.

There was around 12 protesters, wearing blue t-shirts with “Insure our future not climate change” slogans, outside the Lloyd’s building, but according to organisers the event “was supposed to be small”.

Lindsay Keenan, Insure Our Future European coordinator, previously told Post up to 30 protesters were expected to attend the socially distanced protest.

A spokesperson for Lloyd’s said: “At Lloyd’s, we take climate change extremely seriously and recognise the important role insurance is playing in supporting, accelerating and de-risking the transition to a low carbon economy. Whilst the Lloyd’s Corporation does not set underwriting policy in the market, unless there is a specific legal or regulatory requirement to do so, we are nevertheless committed to building consensus across the 90-plus syndicates that operate at Lloyd’s to drive this transition.

“Many firms in the Lloyd’s market are taking steps towards restricting insurance coverage for thermal coal extraction or energy production, and are divesting in companies involved in the coal sector. Lloyd’s is also focused on encouraging innovation in renewable energy cover and the market currently insures renewable energy sources such as wind farms, geo-thermal risks, solar power facilities.

“We will build on this momentum by working with the market to ensure it complies with requirements for disclosure and risk management, as well as providing guidance to firms in the Lloyd’s market planning to withdraw insurance cover and investments for carbon-intensive projects. Lloyd’s Corporation will maintain its divestment policy for its Central Fund, introduced in 1 April 2018, that screens out investments in companies heavily associated with coal.

“We are continuing to analyse the risks and opportunities associated with the transition to a low carbon economy for the benefit of the market and our customers to develop innovative insurance solutions for low-carbon sectors including renewables, the circular economy and electric transport, in line with evolving UN climate aims.”