Artio Becomes First Lloyd’s Coverholder for Carbon Projects

In a climate finance first, Artio, a climate insurer, has been granted the first Lloyd's coverholder status given to any company to insure carbon projects prior to their implementation. This trailblazing approval closes a historical investment gap in pre-implementation carbon projects, opening up greater capital flow into climate solutions like afforestation, biochar, direct air capture (DAC), and enhanced rock weathering (ERW).

Historically, carbon projects have found it hard to secure early investment because of high risk elements and lack of full insurance cover before starting operations. Artio's newly gained capability to insure such projects at their inception is a turning point for the carbon credit market, which is estimated to hit $100 billion in 2035. But despite its potential, early-stage investment by the sector in 2024 is still small at an estimated $16 billion, mostly because of the absence of solid risk coverage solutions.

"Achieving Lloyd's coverholder status is a big step forward," commented Bilal Hussain, co-founder and CEO at Artio. "Carbon purchasers stand poised to support top-tier climate solutions, but lingering uncertainty at the very beginning still deters much-needed flows of capital."

With underwriting capacity supported by prominent international reinsurers such as Tokio Marine HCC, Markel, and Apollo, Artio is now poised to extend financial assurance to developers and investors participating in a wide variety of carbon ventures. The product suite launched first covers afforestation, reforestation, revegetation (ARR), and biochar projects. By 2025, the insurer aims to broaden its product offering to encompass advanced carbon removal technologies like direct air capture and enhanced rock weathering.

Embedded at the center of Artio's strategy is a proprietary risk model that leverages data to measure and predict prospective project interruptions ahead of time. Such risks could be financial volatility, political volatility, or methodological weakness, all of which are major worries for investors. By solving for these problems via data-driven models, Artio's insurance solutions provide a scalable route to derisk early-stage carbon projects and drive investment across the world.

We think that data-driven, fit-for-purpose risk models can unleash billions of new investment," Hussain underlined. "With the support of our Lloyd's underwriting partners, we now have the stage to do that on a global basis.

Artio's path to this milestone has been rapid. Formed by a group of experienced industry professionals from Bloomberg, Deloitte, and carbon intelligence platform Sylvera, the business was admitted to Lloyd's Lab Cohort 13 in October 2024. In only six months, it created and went live with its underwriting platform, quickly positioning itself as a market leader in an underserved and rapidly expanding area of the insurance market.

The Lloyd’s Lab, known for accelerating innovation in the insurance industry, played a key role in supporting Artio’s development. Rosie Denée, Head of Innovation, Commercial Education and Engagement at Lloyd’s, welcomed the company’s entry as a coverholder. “We’re pleased to welcome Artio as a Lloyd’s coverholder,” she said. Carbon markets are a key lever to a more sustainable future, and insurance has a unique role in building confidence and triggering the capital required for its success.

The endorsement of Artio as a coverholder represents a larger trend in the way insurers are responding to the climate finance universe. By underwriting risk ahead of physical work on carbon projects, Artio fills an important financing gap, lowering investor apprehension and making it possible for climate solutions to be developed at scale.

With an increasing number of purchasers looking for early-stage access to credible carbon credits at lower costs, Artio's pioneering model is poised to become a foundational infrastructure layer within global carbon markets. Its combination of insurance expertise and sophisticated risk modeling provides an urgently needed tool for unlocking capital, de-risking climate innovation, and driving faster progress toward global net-zero targets.

With significant insurer support, Lloyd's endorsement, and a scalable, data-driven model, Artio will revolutionize risk management in the carbon economy—potentially unlocking billions of investment for the world's most pressing environmental issues.