Board members tied to the fossil fuel industry are implicated in the company’s actions to short-term profit and then passing off losses to their workers and consumers
Boston, MA – CEO Tim Sweeney said that widespread wind and hail storms worsened Liberty Mutual’s attributable net loss in the second quarter to $585 million from $343 million net loss a year earlier, and that’s part of the reason for laying off 850 Liberty Mutual employees before the end of the year. What he doesn’t mention is that Liberty Mutual has $1.53 billion invested in fossil fuel companies and is one of the biggest insurers of fossil fuels, collecting an estimated $500 million in premiums annually.
“We’ve been warning Liberty Mutual for years that insuring and investing in fossil fuels not only harms everyday people, but harms their business model,” said Ethan Nuss, Senior Insurance Campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network. “How many more people have to lose their jobs or lose their insurance coverage before they’ll back off the fossil fuel industry that hurts their bottom line?”
Fossil fuels cause climate chaos, making the insurance industry lurch towards unprofitability. In addition to pulling out of markets and leaving homeowners behind, now Liberty is firing workers, yet their board of directors and their fossil fuel industry connections rake in profit. 69% of Liberty Mutual’s board members have close ties to and are personally profiting from extractive industries. Of those, six Liberty board members serve on the board of a fossil fuel company. Timothy Sweeney, the CEO of Liberty Mutual, earns at least $6.7 million a year.
Boston-based insurance giant Liberty Mutual is a global climate laggard, enabling fossil fuel expansion projects, lobbying against climate-related disclosures, and supporting climate denial on Fox News. This has made Liberty Mutual a key target for climate activists, frontline communities, elected officials, and a growing movement that is holding the insurance industry accountable for its inaction on climate change and human rights.