What if all PSI signatories ...
Daniel Martin Eckhart
?? Storyteller with #rewilding at heart. Publisher of the Rewilder Weekly ??????????
On Monday, 31 August 2020, the 4th and last of the series organized and hosted by UNEP's Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative and Swiss Re took place - this time the focus was on an industry-wide mapping and aligning of insurance portfolios with the Paris Agreement.
To learn about the wholes series, scroll to the articles below - you'll find lots of insights and video recordings that address the need for a sustainability-driven collaborative effort of the entire insurance industry - there's the leadership perspective, as well as a focus on underwriting and the iSDGs (Insurance Sustainable Development Goals). In this 4th session, participants learned that re/insurers support the Paris Agreement, and more and more are committing to transition investment portfolios, as well as insurance portfolios, to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. But what are the latest developments, is alignment happening to map and measure? One key part of the 4th event was a focus on the findings of a new paper by the CRO Forum - see below.
CRO report - we're just at the beginning
The report states: "Carbon footprinting methodologies in underwriting portfolios as described in this report are just the start - a first step to identifying carbon intensity hotspots as an indicator of where the risk is in the portfolios, using intensity measure of CO2e emissions, where this data is available or of a good enough quality."
A lot is happening - one company at a time
From my layman's vantage point, I see Swiss Re doing many of the right things: we were a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) back in 2007 already; we invest according to ESG standards; there's a clear group strategy; we are transparent with our 2030 sustainability ambitions and set clear targets; sustainability is embedded in all our business practices with the Sustainability Business Risk Framework; we help clients with their energy transition ... all that and much more, no doubt. Top to bottom there is a sustainability focus, for the business, for our clients, for our leadership, for employees - even our buildings are built and maintained according to the highest energy standards.
I'm sure many others in our industry are taking climate change just as seriously - and are as clear and committed as we are. The 4th session, however, made it clear that collaboration, alignment and standards haven't happened yet. During the session, they said that ways to measure climate change impacts in underwriting portfolios need to be found. They talked about leading as an industry and, by doing so, helping all clients to make the necessary transitions. They talked about the need to work together on real actions. They called for a global insurance standard, a worldwide framework, for a level playing field that will ensure significant movement in the right direction. But who's doing the doing?
What if all PSI signatories ...
The Principles for Sustainable Insurance have a large number of signatories by now - a good sign. But I wonder who's leading. It's an important signal to be part of PSI - but, as mentioned above, the experts were talking about what's needed ... so now that we know what's needed - and now we need to act in concert. Wouldn't it be something if EVERY signatory company were to dedicate ONE fulltime employee to focus on nothing other than working with all the other signatures to come up with, and agree on, those measures/standards/frameworks? The clock is ticking.
If you're up for a bit more on this - here's a look back at the series: