Germany’s Munich Re withdraws from climate initiatives

German reinsurance giant Munich Re said on Friday it had withdrawn from several climate alliances but insisted that it would keep pursuing green targets independently. (AFP/File)
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Updated 06 June 2025
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Germany’s Munich Re withdraws from climate initiatives

  • The groups all aim to help financial giants reach net-zero carbon emissions
  • “Climate related disclosures and associated administrative requirements have become very complex for international corporations,” said the firm

FRANFURT: German reinsurance giant Munich Re said on Friday it had withdrawn from several climate alliances but insisted that it would keep pursuing green targets independently.

It is the latest sign that major firms are going cold on such initiatives, amid concerns about their effectiveness and growing political opposition in the United States and elsewhere.

Munich Re said it had pulled out of the UN-backed Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, Climate Action 100+ and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

The groups all aim to help financial giants reach net-zero carbon emissions.

“Climate related disclosures and associated administrative requirements have become very complex for international corporations,” said the firm, which acts as an insurer for insurers.

“Moreover, they are disproportionate to the impact achieved in terms of climate protection.”

It also said there was an “increasing ambiguity in assessing private initiatives under the legal and regulatory regimes across various jurisdictions.”

The group, which last year booked a net profit of 5.7 billion euros ($6.5 billion), said it believed that it could pursue its climate targets “in a more focused and targeted manner on our own.”

“Climate protection remains an urgent priority for Munich Re,” it said.

“We continue to pursue our goal of contributing to the achievement of the Paris climate targets.”

The 2015 Paris climate accords aimed to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — and to 1.5 if possible.

The group said it had achieved or exceeded the interim targets that it had set itself for 2025.


Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (L) and US President Donald Trump. (AFP file photo)
Updated 24 January 2026
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Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’

  • Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
  • Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts

BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.