Climate activists are planning a protest outside the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) Conference in Manchester next week, where thousands of brokers and insurance professionals are expected to attend the industry’s largest annual gathering.
The demonstration is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 13 May, from 8 am outside Manchester Central Convention Complex (M2 3GX). The protest call, organised by Extinction Rebellion Manchester, targets major insurers over their involvement in fossil fuels, weapons manufacturing and companies accused of human rights abuses.
BIBA is one of the UK insurance industry’s largest trade associations, representing insurance brokers and intermediaries nationwide. Campaigners say the protest aims to challenge what they describe as the insurance sector’s role in enabling environmentally and socially destructive industries. Organisers say they are also calling on insurance brokers attending the conference to challenge insurers over their underwriting policies and investment decisions.
The visual theme of the protest will centre on fire and mortality, with activists planning to display flame-shaped placards carrying their “burning questions” for insurers, alongside a grim reaper figure intended to symbolise what campaigners describe as the deadly consequences of climate breakdown, war and human rights abuses linked to industries insured by major firms attending the conference.
An Extinction Rebellion Manchester spokesperson said:
“Insurance companies help make destructive industries possible. Without insurance, new fossil fuel projects can’t go ahead, pipelines are not built, and weapons manufacturers cannot operate.
BIBA’s conference theme this year is ‘TIME: To Address the Burning Questions’. We agree. It is time to ask why insurers continue to profit from industries linked to climate destruction, war and human suffering.
We are calling on the public, brokers and insurance workers themselves to join us outside the conference and demand change. We want a liveable future for everyone, not huge profits for a few.”
The action is being staged as the conference opens under the theme: “TIME: To Address the Burning Questions.” Protesters’ “burning questions” to insurers who sponsor or attend the event:
AVIVA, time to stop enabling migrant abuse?
Aviva is among insurers underwriting or investing in UK detention, accommodation, and surveillance contractors, including Serco and G4S, accused of human rights abuses.
CHUBB, time to stop insuring climate chaos?
Chubb recorded $745 million in fossil-fuel Gross Direct Premiums Written (GDPW) in 2024, making it the world’s third-largest fossil-fuel underwriter by that measure. Insure Our Future has also given Chubb low scores for its underwriting policies for fossil fuels.
INTACT, time to stop insuring genocide?
Intact insures Boeing and holds investments in companies linked to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, including US-made JDAMs, which were used in multiple Israeli strikes in Palestine.
AXA, time to drop climate wreckers?
AXA recorded $595 million in fossil-fuel GDPW in 2024, ranking seventh globally for fossil-fuel underwriting, and also insures the Cameron LNG terminal in Louisiana. Insure Our Future has likewise criticised AXA’s oil and gas underwriting policies.
MARKEL, time to drop new oil & gas?
Markel explicitly markets underwriting services for upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas operations and recorded $305 million in fossil-fuel GDPW in 2024, ranking 27th globally among fossil-fuel underwriters.
ALLIED WORLD, time to stop insuring fossil fuels?
Allied World, alongside Brit and Newline, through its parent company, Fairfax, which recorded $720 million in fossil-fuel GDPW in 2024, making it the world’s fourth-largest fossil-fuel underwriter by that measure.