Last month, Unipol Assicurazioni (Italy) became the latest ICMIF member organisation to join the Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero (FIT), a UN-led and convened multi-stakeholder forum chaired by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to advance insurance strategies and practices that accelerate and scale up a just transition to a resilient net-zero economy.
Joining FIT will encourage engagement between insurance market participants and the insurance regulatory and supervisory authorities, stakeholders and the scientific community. The Forum currently comprises 23 global insurance and reinsurance participants, along with 16 international insurance regulatory and supervisory authorities including IVASS and EIOPA who serve on the FIT Consultative Group of Insurance Regulators & Supervisors. Other ICMIF members (now six in total) that are FIT participants include Achmea (Netherlands); Beneva, Co-operators, and Wawanesa (all Canada); and African Risk Capacity (South Africa);
Through the FIT, UNEP will strengthen its commitment to work with the global insurance industry and key stakeholders to support the acceleration and scaling up of voluntary climate action.
The main priorities for the Forum are to advance net-zero insurance metrics and voluntary targets in addition to developing new net-zero emission insurance concepts; develop transition plan for insurance market participants; engage with the real economy in the development of transition plans by corporates across different sectors. The aim is also to tackle the challenges and opportunities to develop insurance solutions and taxonomies to support the transition to zero emissions.
Unipol committed to contribute towards the Paris Agreement targets in the climate strategy it adopted in 2022, including through its insurance activities. Emission profiles of both the car and corporate portfolios are currently undergoing measurement. Once this has been finalised prior to completion of the Strategic Plan, targets will be set by the Board of Directors in line with the Paris Agreement.
The Group has therefore defined exclusions and the monitoring to carry out in sensitive corporate sectors, using telematics support to monitor customer car emissions and formulating mechanisms to encourage a reduction in emissions. In the meantime, it continues to offer a range of insurance products and services that aid customers in reducing and adapting to climate change, and aims at 40% environmentally and socially friendly products by 2027.
