Sustainable Development | The Crucial Role of Life & Health Insurance
The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, its 17 SDGs, and 169 targets were agreed by all 193 UN member states in 2015. World leaders reaffirmed their nations’ commitments to the Agenda in 2023. Also agreed in 2015 was the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Importantly, this Agreement explicitly states that climate change efforts must be pursued “in the context of sustainable development.” These development blueprints, and many more, are “interlinked and indivisible”, meaning a sustainable future cannot be achieved without progress across all 17 SDGs.
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) will shortly publish a detailed Position Paper examining the link between insurance and sustainable development. This research project has involved 42 in-depth interviews with senior administrators and executives with global roles across the public and private sectors. SDSN’s SDG Academy and Better Insurance Network will also launch a free-to-access online course regarding insurance and the SDGs in April (registration link below).
One key theme that emerged from the Position Paper’s research is the limited appreciation of the link between life and health (L&H) insurance and sustainable development, as many organisations largely approach sustainability via an environmental lens. This is understandable due to the immediacy of climate change and nature and biodiversity loss, yet the annual L&H protection gap is estimated to be USD 1.35 trillion, 3.5 times larger than the natural catastrophe protection gap. This links to SDG Target 3.8 and achieving universal health coverage.
SDG Target 3.4 aims to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The main types of NCDs are cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. NCDs kill 41 million people annually, 74% of all deaths globally. These risks can be reduced through modifiable behavioural changes related to tobacco use, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet. Increasingly, L&H insurers are encouraging and rewarding their customers for introducing healthier behaviours.
Swiss Re and Vitality have generously contributed to SDSN’s work. Join Swiss Re’s Natalie Kelly, Vitality’s Deepak J., SDSN’s Professor Patrick Paul Walsh, and me to discuss the crucial role of L&H insurance in achieving SDG 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing at The Sustainable Insurance Summit in London on Tuesday, 25 March: https://lnkd.in/enD8BaFC. This conference is part of the week-long SUSTAIN Festival: https://lnkd.in/eSvxMTJ8.
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