Sustainability Leadership in Insurance
An international, virtual event series convened by UN Environment Programme’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative and Swiss Re.
| Date | 04 May - 31 Aug 2020 |
|---|---|
| Location | Virtual event Click to open Google Maps |
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About the series
Crisis is a time to make decisions
The word crisis derives from the Greek word "Krisis" meaning decision or judgement. The COVID-19 crisis has turned the world temporarily upside down. There is extreme uncertainty, personal threat and corporate retrenchment. Amidst all of this there is an opportunity for business to take decisions and make judgement calls that, when this crisis is over, can benefit society and the planet in order to create long-term value.
The UNEP FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance serve as a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities. UNEP FI, along with Swiss Re, is holding a series of virtual events for insurers to progress work on the sustainability insurance agenda, including the development of insurance sustainable development goals (iSDGs), that was started in Davos when the world seemed a very different place.
A healthier, safer, more resilient and sustainable society
This crisis will end and when it does, we hope decisions will have been made that will bring the best out of our industry in delivering the insurance sustainable development goals. After all, the vision of the PSI Initiative is of a risk aware world, where the insurance industry is trusted and plays its full role in enabling a healthy, safe, resilient and sustainable society.
Event 1 (4 May)
Event 1 highlights: Opening perspective to Sustainability Leadership in Insurance
The first event brought together UNEP's Executive Director Inger Andersen with Swiss Re's Group CEO Christian Mumenthaler. Moderated by Eric Usher (Head of UNEP Finance Initiative), the in-depth discussions also featured Alison Martin (CEO EMEA and Bank Distribution at Zurich Insurance Group), Dr. Maria Neira (Director Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO) and Mike Mitchell (Head P&S Underwriting Reinsurance at Swiss Re).
Read the interview with Alison Martin, Zurich Insurance Group
Event 2 (3 June)
Event 2 highlights: Sustainability risks in underwriting
The focus of the second event in the UNEP's Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative series was on sustainability risks in underwriting, implementing sustainability risk frameworks and underwriting biodiversity and ecosystem risks. A WWF/Swiss Re Institute Report on Spatial Finance and the first ever global sustainability guide for the insurance industry with a focus on the non-life insurance business were launched.
Event 3 (8 July)
Event 3 highlights: Insurance Sustainable Development Goals (iSDGs)
In this third session in the UNEP's Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative series, stakeholders from across the insurance industry - and all continents - discussed the industry's contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many insurance products & services already support these but there is a clear need for increased and sustained industry action to deliver on the SDGs. This is especially important now in 2020, the start of the UN’s Decade of Action to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Event 4 (31 Aug)
Event 4 highlights: Aligning insurance portfolios with the Paris Agreement
Many re/insurers have publicly announced support for the Paris Agreement and a growing number have committed to transition their investment portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and, more recently, their insurance portfolios as well. In this final event of the PSI-Swiss Re international virtual event series on sustainability leadership in insurance, we featured latest developments on aligning re/insurance portfolios with net-zero targets, particularly:
- The findings of a first technical paper produced by the Chief Risk Officers Forum on a carbon footprinting methodology for underwriting portfolios.
- How re/insurance portfolios can be aligned with the Paris Agreement from both an opportunity and risk lens in order to help achieve a net-zero world by 2050.
Partners & Speakers
Nate Aden
Senior Associate
World Resources Institute
Inger Andersen
Executive Director
UN Environment Programme
Butch Bacani
Programme Leader
UN Environment Programme’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative
Renate Bleich
Head of Sustainability
Munich Re
Tomás Carmona
Head of Sustainability
SulAmérica
Brett Clark
Group CEO and Managing Director
TAL
Thierry Corti
Senior Sustainability Manager
Group Risk Management
Conor Donaldson
International Association of Insurance Supervisors
Olivia Fabry
Programme Supervisor
UN Environment Programme’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative
Amandine Favier
Head Sustainable Finance
WWF Switzerland
Linda Freiner
Group Head of Sustainability
Zurich Insurance Group Ltd
Crystal GENG
Group ESG Expert
Ping An Group
Patty Karuaihe-Martin
Managing Director
Namibia National Reinsurance Corporation Ltd (NamibRe)
Ricardo Lara
Insurance Commissioner
California Department of Insurance
Alison Martin
CEO EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) and Bank Distribution
Zurich Insurance Group
Mike Mitchell
Head Property & Specialty Reinsurance, Member of the Reinsurance Executive Committee
Swiss Re
Christian Mumenthaler
Group Chief Executive Officer
Dr Maria Neira
Director Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health
World Health Organization
Masaaki Nagamura
General Manager International Initiatives
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
Patrick Raaflaub
Group Chief Risk Officer
Gillian Rutherford-Liske
Head Reinsurance Sustainability
Reinsurance Centre
Vicky Saporta
Executive Director
Prudential Policy Directorate at the Bank of England
Ovais Sarmad
Deputy Executive Secretary
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Edi Schmid
Underwriting Advisor to the Group EC
Dr Susanne Schmitt
Nature and Spatial Finance Lead
WWF-UK
Reto Schnarwiler
Head Group Sustainability
Group Risk Management
Pamela Schuermans
Principal Expert on Insurance Policy
EIOPA – Principal Expert Insurance Policy
Veronica Scotti
Chairperson Public Sector Solutions
John Scott
Head of Sustainability Risk
Zurich Insurance Group
Dave Snyder
Vice President
International Policy for APCIA
Geoff Summerhayes
Executive Board Member
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)
Helga Tomagnini
Superintendent of Business Strategy & Risk Engineering
MAPFRE Brazil
Eric Usher
Head
UNEP Finance Initiative
Sylvain Vanston
Group Head of Climate & Environment
Axa Group
James Wallace
Group Lead – ESG Insurance Integration
Allianz
Lasse Wallquist
Senior Risk Manager
Group Risk Management
Garance Wattez-Richard
Chief Executive Officer, AXA Emerging Customers
AXA Group
Rob Wesseling
President and CEO
The Co-operators Group Limited
Martin Weymann
Head Sustainability, Emerging & PRM
Swiss Re Institute
Superior research driving better decisions
We share our risk knowledge in re/insurance through our publications, data sets, client programmes and conferences.