Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Insurers Pressured to Drop Coverage of Canada’s Oil Sands Pipeline

Self-insurance by the government for the expansion would cost taxpayers $1.1 billion, the groups said. Pressure is growing for financial companies to pull back from insuring and investing in polluting industries like coal and oil as part of an effort to combat climate change.The coalition sent a letter to 27 companies registered to insure the pipeline, including Munich Re, Talanx and Zurich Insurance Group AG, asking them to drop their coverage before Aug. 31, the deadline for Canada to renew its liability insurance.

read more

Rhine river shipping faces another historic shutdown as drought hits water levels

Reflecting a trend seen in the Himalayas, the Rockies and other mountainous regions of the world, alpine glaciers have shrunk steadily as global warming makes melting in summer outpace accumulation of snow in winter. That means there’s less water feeding rivers each year. An April study by ETH Zurich predicts that half of the Alps’ glaciers could disappear within three decades.

read more