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.

Scientists have linked the warming planet to man-made climate change, predicting a rise in temperatures of 1.5C (2.7F) between 2030 and 2052 if global warming continues apace.Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are chiefly responsible for climate change, according to scientific consensus.

“What’s most interesting is the way the stress test will change the way the insurers will think about these particular sectors,” said Mark Lewis, global head of sustainability research at BNP Paribas SA’s asset management unit”

Insurers globally have been reducing their business around coal. Insurer Chubb and Zurich Insurance Group have both in the past month revised their policies to limit their thermal coal exposure.