The insurance industry plays an important role in promoting economic, social and environmental sustainability—or sustainable development. With the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015, and the upcoming Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, there is growing pressure and urgency across all sectors of society to respond and find solutions to sustainability challenges the world is facing.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks—also known as sustainability risks—pose a shared risk to insurers, communities, businesses, cities, governments and society at large, providing a strong incentive for innovation and collaboration. Some ESG risks have varying implications, with some increasingly being recognised to be potentially financially material (e.g. climate change, ecosystem degradation, pollution).
The four Principles for Sustainable Insurance, including a list of possible actions, provide a common aspiration and global framework for the insurance industry to manage ESG risks, and to strengthen its contribution to building resilient, inclusive and sustainable communities and economies. Addressing ESG issues in core insurance business strategies and operations goes to the heart of implementing the PSI, particularly Principle 1: “We will embed in our decision-making ESG issues relevant to our insurance business”.
This session will outline the case for company sustainability strategies and related sustainability risks by re/insurers to manage ESG issues from both market and supervisory perspectives. Learn more: [ Ссылка ]
Speakers:
▪ Patrick Raaflaub, Group Chief Risk Officer, Swiss Re
▪ Pamela Schuermans, Principal Expert on Insurance Policy, European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)
Moderator:
▪ Butch Bacani, PSI Programme Leader, UNEP
