AIG job advert prompts speculation over Adani link

The original Seek job advertisement was sent to Insurance Business by the Australia-based Sunrise Project, an advocacy group campaigning for the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

AIG is still advertising the office administrator position, including on LinkedIn. However, the reference to Adani has now been removed. “Security coordination” remains listed as one of the job’s duties.

Read more: Climate campaigners continue battle against insuring Adani coal mine

IB reached out to AIG by email and phone for an explanation of the Adani reference. No response was received by the time of publication.

Environmental groups have targeted AIG for refusing to rule out insuring Adani’s coal mining projects. In 2019, the advocacy group, Market Forces said it received a tip-off from an AIG staff member that the company was providing insurance for Adani’s preliminary works at the Carmichael coal mine site and also for Directors and Officers (D&O) liability.

IB consulted experienced insurance industry professionals for their views on the significance of the job advert. Their views are expressed here anonymously.

One source said it was fairly reasonable to conclude from the advert that AIG is insuring Adani’s Carmichael coal project. The same source said if AIG wasn’t providing the insurance, it’s hard to understand why they would want attention from environmental advocates by mentioning Adani in a job posting.

There’s also the question of why a seemingly conventional office position would include “security coordination” as a duty? Another source, with experience in recruitment, said the inclusion of a security role as part of an administrative job was reasonably common. The source said it could just mean checking IDs at a front desk. The same source couldn’t offer a judgement on the Adani reference.

Another industry veteran was perplexed by the Adani related job duty as part of an office administration role. He also thought the reference to Adani was surprising given how anxious many insurance industry companies are to distance themselves from the coal mining giant.

A final source said the reference in the job advert didn’t necessarily mean AIG was insuring the Adani mining operation. The “Adani issues”, he suggested, could actually reflect AIG’s concerns about being targeted by environmental advocates who link the company to Adani, regardless of whether AIG is actually insuring this Queensland mining operation or not.

In November, an Adani spokesperson reiterated that their coal mining project in central Queensland had insurance coverage and expected to export coal by the end of the year.

“The project is nearing completion and we are on track to export coal this calendar year,” said a statement from the company.

At the end of December, the spokesperson said the first coal shipment from the Carmichael Mine was ready to leave its Australian export terminal.

However, weeks later, the coal’s exact status is not known publicly. Adani is thought to be concerned about revealing the shipping schedule and the coal’s location to fossil fuel activists.

In a statement published last week, the London based international specialty (re)insurer Convex became the latest major insurance company to confirm it wasn’t insuring new coal mining projects.

Read more: Convex speaks out on Adani coal mine issue

The Convex statement said they would not be insuring “the construction or operation of any new thermal coal mine and/or its dedicated infrastructure.”

The company explained that its announcement was a way of correcting “inaccurate and misleading information concerning our alleged involvement in a new coal mine in Australia.”

The Convex statement expressed concern that this campaign falsely linking the company to Adani’s coal mine had the potential to impact their partners in the Convex Seascape Survey, a five-year research program looking at the role of oceans in the carbon cycle.

“In our view,” declared Convex, “it would be a terrible irony if a science research project of this importance was impacted by a false rumour about the insurer that sponsors it.”

According to the Stop Adani campaign, Convex is the 43rd insurer to rule out underwriting the controversial Carmichael mine.

AIG’s LinkedIn job posting shows seven applicants.

This article will be updated should AIG issue a response.