Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
19 January 2021
A group of 22 leading insurers and reinsurers convened by UNEP FI has published the first comprehensive guidance for the insurance industry to identify and disclose the impact of climate change on their businesses.
3 June 2020
There is growing momentum to ensure the recovery from the global pandemic shifts the economy to a more sustainable model and enables the transition to a circular economy post-2020. In their blog, Jan Raes, a circular economy finance expert who drafted our study Demystifying Circular Economy Finance, supported by Aliyorbek Muminov in UNEP FI’s Secretariat,…
17 February 2020
14 February 2020 – Munich Re has become the 19th asset owner to join the United Nations-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the Alliance’s total assets under management (AUM) to US$4.5 trillion. The group of pension funds and insurers have pledged to decarbonize their portfolios to net-zero emissions by 2050 to avoid a global temperature…
12 February 2020
Members of the UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, alongside UNEP FI and its partners, led an affiliated session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos on 22 January. The yearly forum engages political, business, cultural and other world leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The group of…
22 January 2020
$4.3 trillion AUM Alliance using collective voice at Davos to highlight need for urgent climate action to world’s corporate and political leaders 22 January 2019 – Four months after 12 of the world’s largest pension funds and insurers committed to decarbonize their investments by 2050, the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has added the…
1 April 2019
Despite the commitments negotiated at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris in December 2015, the impacts of a changing climate are being increasingly felt across the globe. Extreme weather events, changes in precipitation patterns, melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels and the potential for demographic, health and economic…
27 February 2019
Today, UN Environment, Oceana and leading insurers issued a checklist of warning signs for pirate fishing activity, as part of a global insurance industry effort to curb illegal fishing. The risk assessment guidelines, launched at an international conference organised by UN Environment’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI) and the global insurer Allianz, were developed…
27 February 2019
The first ever guidance designed for the global insurance industry to integrate sustainability into industrial and commercial business has launched for public consultation today. The result of a multi-year initiative co-led by UNEP FI’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance and leading insurer, Allianz, the guide is designed to manage environmental, social and governance risks in insurance…
18 December 2018
On Saturday, following two weeks marked by dramatic rhetoric and intense negotiations over legal language, close to 200 Governments bridged a deep global divide and agreed on the set of rules meant to steer countries worldwide in implementing the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. UNEP FI’s Climate Lead, Remco Fischer gives more…
13 November 2018
UN Environment’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) announced today a partnership with 16 of the world’s largest insurers—representing around 10% of world premium and USD 5 trillion in assets under management—to develop a new generation of risk assessment tools designed to enable the insurance industry to better understand the impacts of climate change on their business. This understanding is vital for an industry whose core business is to manage risk.
24 July 2018
Finance sector commits to working together to develop Sustainable Finance Roadmaps for Australia & New Zealand Finance sector organisations – including banking, insurance and investment industries, representing over 300 institutions with $10 trillion in assets – have today released a joint statement in support of a sustainable financial system for Australia and New Zealand.
26 June 2018
After a year-long global consultation involving insurance industry leaders, mayors and other local government leaders, and key stakeholders, the Insurance Industry Development Goals for Cities were launched in Montréal on 22 June at the ICLEI World Congress 2018. The goals set the global agenda for the industry and cities in the context of economic, social and environmental sustainability—or sustainable development.
24 May 2018
Latin America’s largest insurance market declares support for promoting dialogue on practical and effective ways to meet the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures Brazil has made an unprecedented commitment to climate risk transparency by becoming the first insurance market in the world to declare its commitment to…
3 May 2018
The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was created in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to develop consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies, banks, and investors in providing information to stakeholders. Increasing the amount of reliable information on financial institutions’ exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities will strengthen the…
30 April 2018
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues—also known as sustainability issues—pose a shared risk to insurers, communities, businesses, cities, governments and society at large, providing a strong incentive for innovation and collaboration. Examples of ESG issues include natural disasters, pollution, carbon emissions, degradation of natural resources, illegal fishing and logging, child and forced labour, negative impacts…
10 April 2018
Geneva/Cape Town/Johannesburg, 9 April 2018—The United Nations and Santam, South Africa’s largest general insurer, will co-host this month the first African conference of UN Environment’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI), which will focus on strengthening the industry’s ability to contribute to sustainable development across the continent. The conference, which will be held from 16…
5 December 2017
The Climate Insurance is the first-ever online database on climate risk and a recent collaborative effort to promote risk transfer and insurance as an approach to more effectively manage the increasing number of disasters and their impacts on vulnerable communities. The database shares the experiences of numerous international organizations in the field of risk transfer…
14 November 2017
On 13 November 2017, the European Commission launched a public consultation on Institutional investors and asset managers’ duties regarding sustainability. Running until 22 January 2018, the consultation seeks evidence on: How clarifications or amendments to investor duties can contribute to more efficient allocation of capital and to more sustainable and inclusive growth; How to ensure…
8 November 2017
As world leaders, business and civil society come together in Bonn for the 2017 UN Climate Change Conference (COP23)—which is the next step to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change—important developments are taking place within the global insurance industry and insurance regulatory and supervisory community to support the transformation to a resilient, inclusive and…
27 October 2017
27 October, 2017 UNEP FI is very pleased to welcome leading commercial insurer Zurich Insurance Group as a signatory to the Principles for Sustainable Insurance, and a member of UNEP FI. Group Chief Executive Officer Mario Greco said, “At Zurich, we are proud of the steps we have taken to incorporate environment, social and…