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AXA XL and Reuters Energy Transition Insurance Insights Report 2025

A recent report into the role of insurance in the energy transition highlights some of the challenges energy providers are facing and gives actionable insights on the journey to a low-carbon economy.

Extreme weather events over the past few months have underlined the science attributing their increased risk and likelihood to man-made climate change, and the need to continue the transition to a lower carbon economy. 

A recent report, Reuters Events’ Energy Transition Insurance Insights Report 2025, produced in partnership with AXA XL, shows that the perceived risk of climate change and extreme weather events by energy leaders has become more acute year on year. 

The report, which surveyed almost 500 energy transition professionals and practitioners from across the world, found that 27% of respondents said climate change and extreme weather events had a ‘very high impact’ on the risk landscape for their organisation, up from 20% in last year’s survey. 

As they continue to find ways to meet the increasing demand for lower carbon energy supply, energy companies are looking to their insurance partners for solutions to help them overcome some of the challenges they face in growing the market.

More than half of respondents (59%) said policy and regulatory hurdles are likely to be the biggest barriers to low-carbon growth over the next five years.

Breaking down barriers to growth

Despite a clear appetite to move to a lower-carbon energy market, there are some potential barriers to growth, according to respondents. More than half of respondents (59%) said policy and regulatory hurdles are likely to be the biggest barriers to low-carbon growth over the next five years. 

Added to that, 45% of renewable energy developers and 58% of oil and gas companies said they believed they were likely to face financial barriers to growth, while 49% of renewable energy developers and 35% of oil and gas companies said that a lack of government, regional or global targets may also hamper growth.

As companies look to accelerate the energy transition, their insurance partners can facilitate solutions that can help to reduce some of the financial barriers to the construction and operation of energy infrastructure. Political risk coverage and credit insurance, to name two examples, will play an important role here as the industry seeks to continue to grow.

Geopolitical headwinds

Respondents said concerns about the availability of funding were the most concerning current geopolitical headwind affecting their businesses in the short term. Fears over a lack of availability of funds were cited by 31% of respondents, who said it was their greatest geopolitical concern.

The second most mentioned geopolitical headwind was stress on supply chains – a particular worry for renewable energy developers, 27% of whom said this was a major concern.

These two risk factors highlight the crucial role that insurance can play in reducing the risks associated with buying and lending money for renewable projects and in assessing and mitigating potential vulnerabilities in supply chains. 

The role of insurance

Insurance is playing and will continue to occupy a vital role in enabling the energy transition. Increasingly, the report reveals, insurers are being viewed as advisers throughout the lifecycle of energy projects – from the R&D or project design stage, right through to decommissioning.

The research showed that an increasing number of respondents see external insurers as advisers, as well as service providers. But the insurance industry still has work to do to ensure that more organisations engage external risk experts to work alongside their in-house risk expertise in the earliest stages of projects. 

Fair and just

As the global economy transitions to a lower carbon future, potentially unfair social and economic impacts of the transition must be actively addressed. Achieving an equitable transition is a major priority for the energy industry, with 82% of respondents saying that a fair and just transition is important to their business.

And although only a quarter – 26% - said that their organisation would create an explicit policy to support a fair transition in the next 12 months, it’s heartening that the vast majority recognise the importance of a fair and just transition both from a moral and a business standpoint.

The energy transition is taking place at different paces and in different time zones. Many businesses are evolving significantly to make the transition a reality. Insurance has a vital role to play in enabling that transition, and data and actionable insights such as this will help insurers developing their support for their clients’ pathways to a low-carbon world. 

Access the full report here

SOURCE: AXA XL