Zurich commits to zero-emission investment portfolio; launches climate risk service

Zurich Insurance Group said it will have a zero-emission portfolio of investments by 2050, and is committing to other actions on climate change, as it warned that the world is behind schedule on tackling the problem.

As well as the investment target, Zuruch said it is planning a new service to help businesses better manage rapidly evolving risks.

Mario Greco, group CEO at Zurich Insurance Group, said: “Business has a critical role to play in transforming the global economy to tackle climate change.”

Zurich has updated its climate change white paper “Mitigating the impacts of climate change: risk management responses” that aims to help businesses better understand the evolution and status of their climate change-related risks. It also provides guidance on how to assess their exposures, vulnerabilities and hazards, and offers advice on how to manage them. It includes Zurich’s climate change scorecard, which since 2017 measures progress and developments in a range of climate change-related areas.

Zurich’s analysis shows that business actions are still falling short of what is needed to meet the long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Zurich said there is growing demand among its business customers for risk management tools that measure the impact of climate change. In response, Zurich will be launching a new Climate Risk Advisory Service during its next strategic cycle.

Zurich has also recently joined the Insurance Development Forum, a public-private-partnership bringing together the United Nations Development Program, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the UK’s Department for International Development, and other public and private sector entities to increase insurance protection in climate-exposed countries.

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