New report outlines action for sustainable insurance

A new report has been released by the global network of insurance supervisors and regulators Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) to outline the necessary action to tackle sustainability challenges within the insurance sector.

SIF, created by UN Environment in December 2016 in San Francisco, is a global platform for knowledge sharing, policy dialogue, international collaboration, and identification of best practices for a sustainable insurance system.

The report – Sustainable Insurance, The Emerging Agenda for Supervisors and Regulators – details the need for the insurance industry to scale its efforts to integrate sustainability factors within the regulation and supervision of insurance companies by 2020.

The UN initiative Principles for Sustainable Insurance leads the efforts in tackling sustainability challenges across underwriting and investment.

The report reads: “In its role as risk manager, risk carrier, and investor, the global insurance sector plays a cornerstone role in the management of sustainability-related risks and opportunities.”

The report outlines five steps for insurance professionals: initial assessment; deepening risk analysis; improving information; market transformation; and making systemic linkages.

Understanding how sustainability challenges apply to the core institutional objectives including the solvency of firms, policyholder protection, or broader implications for financial stability is the main challenge for insurance practitioners, according to the SIF report.