(Adds details from Zurich, context on NZIA, antitrust concerns)
LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Zurich Insurance Group said on Wednesday it was withdrawing from the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), becoming the second big insurer to quit the climate group after Munich Re said it was leaving last week.
Zurich, one of Europe's biggest insurers and a founding member of NZIA, said it wanted "to focus our resources to support our customers with their transition".
A spokesperson for Zurich declined to comment further on the insurer's reasons for leaving as well as on whether antitrust concerns had led to the decision.
Munich Re on Friday said it was withdrawing from NZIA - which is focused on reducing carbon emissions - to avoid antitrust risks.
"We continue to remain fully committed to our sustainability ambitions and to supporting the net-zero transition," a spokesperson for Zurich said.
Antitrust concerns are at the centre of a growing sustainability backlash in the United States led by Republican politicians, and legal experts in the U.S. and Europe have called on regulators to provide more assurances to companies wanting to collaborate to tackle climate change. (Reporting by Virginia Furness and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, editing by Ed Osmond)
