A Public Letter to the CEO of Chubb on
Environmental Degradation
Environmental Degradation
Dear Mr. Greenberg,
We are writing to you as Orthodox rabbis who are deeply aware of the impact your company, Chubb, has on both our society and our environment. We want to begin by acknowledging the important work of the Chubb Charitable Foundation and the ways it has supported critical initiatives around education, disaster relief, and community resilience. We are grateful for this leadership and generosity.
However, we also feel compelled to raise our voices in concern over Chubb’s continued role in insuring fossil fuel projects. As the climate crisis accelerates, we urge you to consider the influence your company holds in either enabling or discouraging further fossil fuel exploration and development.
Our tradition teaches us that the Earth is a gift entrusted to us by God, and we are its stewards. In the Talmud, we read of Choni, the man who plants a carob tree for the benefit of future generations. This story reminds us that caring for our environment is a sacred, long-term responsibility. We are obligated not just to protect our planet for ourselves, but for those who come after us.
Insuring fossil fuel expansion runs directly counter to that vision. It puts our future, our communities, and our most vulnerable neighbors at risk. From worsening storms and wildfires, to rising sea levels and drought. It endangers the animals we are commanded to protect under the principle of tzar ba’alei chayim, and it threatens our most precious resource: water. When fossil fuel projects leak, spill, or pollute, they often poison the very water sources people depend on to live. We cannot afford to compromise this sacred gift. Clean water is life.
In Judaism, we are taught to care not only for ourselves, but for the stranger, the poor, and the vulnerable. Climate change is already creating climate refugees and devastating farmers, both here and abroad. If we do not act now, the suffering will grow.
We are asking you, Mr. Greenberg, to take meaningful action by committing that Chubb will no longer insure new fossil fuel projects. This is a powerful way to lead and to help steer our world toward a more sustainable, just future. You have the chance to align your business with the values of stewardship, compassion, and justice.
By ending support for fossil fuel expansion, Chubb can help prevent the next disaster—rather than merely reacting to it.
Many blessings,
Rabbi Shimon Brand
Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick
Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb
Rabbi Steve Greenberg
Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg
Rabba Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Rabbi Dina Najman
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz