Insuring for sustainability: why and how the leaders are doing it

The inaugural report of the Insurance Working Group of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative:

This report identifies nine vital global sustainability issues, based on their urgency, scale and the ability of the insurance industry to influence them: (1) Climate change and the impact of increased extreme weather conditions; (2) The role of micro-insurance in reducing social and economic vulnerability; (3) Lifelong income and meeting the needs of an ageing population; (4) Health, in particular, the threat of new epidemics including avian bird flu, obesity and stress; (5) The need to quantify emerging man-made risks including nanotechnology and genetically modified organisms; (6) Environmental liability; (7) Attributing a value and risk weighting to natural resources; (8) Recycling and what to do with items written off in insurance claims; and (9) Internal efficiency to reduce the industry’s footprint and provide an example to customers. The aims of this report are to raise awareness of the contribution that the insurance industry is already making to sustainability and to identify major challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.