The United Nations has convened a new forum to drive progress on the insurance industry’s transition to net-zero carbon emissions after a number of carriers withdrew from an earlier incarnation amid opposition from U.S. politicians.
The United Nations Environment Program announced creation of the Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero billed as a “U.N.-led and convened structured dialogue and multi-stakeholder forum” to support voluntary climate action by the insurance industry.
It replaces the earlier Net-Zero Insurance Alliance and seeks to use experience gained by the earlier group, according to an announcement of the new program. A group of state attorneys general questioned whether that original incarnation ran afoul of U.S. and state anti-trust laws.
“Over the past months, UNEP 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,” the announcement said. “These consultations have validated a clear and urgent need to create a new, multistakeholder forum, and have also identified work priorities going forward.”
Initial priorities will include advancing frameworks for net-zero insurance metrics and voluntary targets, and developing net-zero insurance concepts; developing a transition plan for insurance market participants; engaging with the real economy on developing the plans by corporates across sectors; and tackling challenges and opportunities to develop insurance solutions and taxonomies.
The aim is to make available insurance and finances for net-zero transmission, the UNEP said.
Among the founding participants are 19 insurers and reinsurers from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Oceania, the announcement said.
The FIT will seek input on activities from two separate consultative groups — one comprised of 16 insurance regulatory and supervisory authorities, and the other made up of 11 academic, research and civil society organizations. The panel’s work is anticipated to be made publicly available, the group said.
The United Nations’ Net Zero Insurance Alliance, battered by an exodus of companies and threatened politically, dropped requirements to set and publish greenhouse gas reduction targets.
The alliance announced the shift in its requirements in a statement saying it is still committed to reducing carbon emissions.
The alliance had been bleeding members who say they remain on board with its goals. In June of last year, Beazley plc confirmed its withdrawal from the U.N.-sponsored NZIA, making it the 15th insurer/reinsurer to do so.