LONDON/FRANKFURT - A United Nations-convened climate alliance for insurers suffered at least three more departures on Thursday including the group’s chair, as insurance companies take fright in the face of opposition from US Republican politicians.

At least seven members of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), which launched in 2021, have now left including five of the eight founding signatories.

Departures on Thursday included AXA, whose group chief risk officer Renaud Guidée had chaired the alliance. The French insurer said in a statement it was leaving to “continue its individual sustainability journey.” Germany’s Allianz and French reinsurer SCOR also quit.

NZIA, part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) set up by UN climate envoy Mark Carney, requires members to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

The group has been buffeted by growing political opposition from some Republicans in the United States, who say the group could be violating antitrust laws by working together to reduce clients’ carbon emissions.

This month 23 US state attorneys general told NZIA members that the group’s targets and requirements appeared to violate both federal and state antitrust laws.

They gave insurers a month to respond in a May 15 letter - the latest salvo from the Republicans against financial institutions factoring environmental, social and governance-related (ESG) factors into their decision making.

NZIA members held talks on Thursday to discuss the alliance’s options, sources familiar with the group said.

John Neal, CEO of Lloyd’s of London, which is a member, told Reuters on Wednesday the alliance needed to make its membership rules less prescriptive or risk falling apart.

An NZIA spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the NZIA website, it still has 23 members including Aviva, Lloyd’s and Tokio Marine Holdings. Most of those which have left have sizeable US businesses, but so do some of those still in.

“We must wonder whether their ditching of the alliance has more to do with fe...