UN launches new net-zero insurance forum to replace NZIA

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has disbanded the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) and replaced it with the Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero (FIT). UNEP said the aim is to foster availability of insurance and finance for transition projects and technologies and net-zero activities. The FIT does not include any US-headquartered insurers, nor any of the key insurers that pulled out of the NZIA such as AXA, Lloyd’s, Munich Re, Tokio Marine and Zurich. UNEP said the FIT is a “new UN-led and convened structured dialogue and multistakeholder forum to support the necessary acceleration and scaling up of voluntary climate action by the insurance industry and key stakeholders”. Butch Bacani, the head of the insurance team at UNEP, told Reuters that the FIT “is a new initiative altogether". "It’s not simply a Version 2.0. It’s really a clean cut and new structure," he said. According to Reuters, FIT members will not need to set targets to reduce their emissions and report on them annually, as was the case with NZIA. But they will be expected to adopt four ‘Principles for Sustainable Insurance’, which focus on processes. The FIT does not include any US-headquartered insurers, nor any of the key insurers that pulled out of the NZIA such as AXA, Lloyd’s, Munich Re, Tokio Marine and Zurich. UNEP said that over the past months, it has met with a wide range of key stakeholders to discuss practical and effective ways in which insurance can support and accelerate the transition to a net-zero emissions economy. “These consultations have validated a clear and urgent need to create a new, multistakeholder forum, and have also identified work priorities going forward,” said UNEP. The FIT will work with insurance market participants and engage with insurance regulators and supervisors, net-zero standard-setters and initiatives, the scientific and academic community, civil society, and other key stakeholders to advance net-zero insurance thinking and practices globally. According to UNEP, initial priorities for the FIT include: Advancing frameworks for net-zero insurance metrics and voluntary targets, and developing new net-zero insurance concepts; Developing a net-zero transition plan framework for insurance market participants; Engaging with the real economy on the development of net-zero transition plans by corporates across different sectors; Tackling challenges and opportunities to develop insurance solutions and taxonomies that would support the net-zero transition. Founding FIT participants comprise 19 insurers and reinsurers, including Achmea, Aviva, Beazley, CNP Assurances, Credit Agricole Assurances, Generali, Singapore Life and The Fidelis Partnership. The FIT will seek input on its activities from two separate consultative groups that are independent of each other – one group made up of insurance regulatory and supervisory authorities, the other made up of academic, research and civil society organisations, said UNEP. The founding members of the FIT’s Consultative Group of Insurance Regulators & Supervisors comprise 16 insurance regulatory and supervisory authorities from all regions, including the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, National Insurance Commission of Ghana, California Department of Insurance, and Brazilian Superintendence of Private Insurance.

UN launches new net-zero insurance forum to replace NZIA

But key insurers that pulled out of NZIA still absent

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