The United Nations-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) launched the Alliance's first Target-Setting Protocol at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
As risk managers, insurers and investors, the insurance industry has an important role to play in the transition to a net-zero emissions global economy by supporting their clients in taking concrete action to achieve net zero.
Version 1.0 of the NZIA Target-Setting Protocol (the Protocol) will enable NZIA members, such as Mapfre, to begin to independently set science-based, intermediate targets for their respective insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios in line with a net-zero transition pathway consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. With the launch of the Protocol, existing NZIA members are required to set and disclose their initial target(s) by 31 July 2023.
This important milestone comes 18 months after the Alliance's launch at the 2021 G20 Climate Summit in Venice by eight of the world's leading insurers and reinsurers. Since then, the Alliance has grown to 29 insurers and reinsurers representing about 15% of world premium volume globally.
"Economic decarbonization is essential for the planet," highlighted Antonio Huertas, CEO at Mapfre, who indicated that "our environmental commitment is to gradually and progressively raise the bar on sustainability, with specific objectives set down for 2023 that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our insurance and reinsurance portfolio, and which facilitate us in accompanying society in a just transition, helping both our clients and those people whose livelihoods are intertwined with carbon-related activity to also converge in that direction". Huertas also underlined that "in playing our part, we are deeply concerned with improving our environmental footprint management, promoting the circular economy and leveraging our underwriting and investment positions to support the transition toward a zero-emission economy in the fairest manner possible, giving commensurate priority to people's well-being."