The Norwegian Hull Club has launched an environmental care & emission reduction (ECER) assessment scheme for its underwriting of the oil and gas industry.
The scheme will form part of its underwriting guidelines and rating assessment from this year.
It involves assessing oil and gas clients’ efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.
Allowances will be given based on the CO2 and NOx reductions achieved.
Measures such as the use of selective catalytic reduction systems, enclosed flare systems and waste heat recovery systems could result in an ECER rate reduction.
The role of the world’s leading insurers in enabling the oil and gas industry is a controversial topic among environmentalists.
Some of the world’s largest insurers and reinsurers have adopted a net-zero by 2050 policy and stated that they will start to withdraw from new oil and gas projects.
Munich Re made a major statement last year on withdrawing from new oil and gas in the future.
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty said that from this year it would no longer invest in and underwrite new single-site or stand-alone oil and selected gas risks, oil and gas activities related to the Arctic and the Antarctic, or extra-heavy oil and ultra-deepsea risks.
From next year, it will deal only with oil and gas clients with a net-zero by 2050 policy.
The Norwegian Hull Club said the current energy crisis shows that oil and gas will continue to play an important role in delivering energy to the world in the future.
It said it remains committed to decarbonisation and will follow its oil and gas clients into the offshore renewables sector.
Chief executive Christian Seim said the club has a “forward-leaning sustainability focus” and “remains committed to developing innovative services and products for our valued oil and gas clients.”
The Norwegian Hull Club is a founding member of the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance, a programme committed to monitoring shipping decarbonisation.
“Incentives can encourage change, and introducing the ECER assessment and allowance is an important, committing and concrete step in the club’s contribution to encourage progress towards zero emissions by 2050,” Seim said.
