Climate governance

Swiss Re’s governance around climate-related risks and opportunities

At Swiss Re’s highest governance level, three Board of Directors committees are charged with overseeing the implementation and execution of Swiss Re’s Climate Action Plan.

The Chairman’s and Governance Committee, presided over by the Chairman, has the overall responsibility of monitoring the Group’s Strategic Priorities on enabling sustainable progress, including initiatives and actions specifically addressing climate change.

The Investment Committee reviews Swiss Re’s asset management-related activities and, as part of this, receives regular updates on Group Asset Management’s Responsible Investing Strategy and implementation, including in the area of climate change.

The Finance and Risk Committee defines the Group Risk Policy, reviews risk capacity limits, monitors adherence to risk tolerance, and reviews all top risk issues and exposures, including those with a specific climate dimension.

The role of the Board of Directors is the oversight of the development and adoption of sustainability policies and strategies, while the Group Executive Committee approves them.

As we move to implement our enhanced Group Sustainability Strategy, we will also introduce a number of key performance indicators at the Group Executive Committee level. One such indicator will align Swiss Re’s business actions with the goals of the UN Paris Agreement to limit a global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C.

Group Risk Management is responsible for maintaining a suitable risk policy framework, as well as for coordinating the Group’s Sustainability Strategy, mandate and topics. The Business Units drive the strategic implementation within their respective areas, and Group Asset Management is responsible for developing and implementing the Group’s Responsible Investing Strategy, which also contains a dedicated approach to climate change.

You can read more about our sustainability governance in our 2019 Sustainability Report.