Focus: Climate change

Climate change has been our most important sustainability issue for many years: For a reinsurer, it constitutes a key material topic because it will lead to an increase in the frequency and severity of natural catastrophes such as floods, storms, excessive rainfall and drought. In combination with growing asset concentrations in exposed areas and more widespread insurance protection, this will cause a steady rise in losses. Of our current Corporate Responsibility Topics shown on page 11, two are directly connected to climate change: "Managing climate and natural disaster risk" and "Advancing sustainable energy solutions".

Tractor in a flooded street with people on it (photo)

A community in Indonesia grappling with a flooded street. Helping to reduce the risk of natural catastrophes by advancing the climate transition remains one of our top priorities.

Since detecting the long-term threat posed by climate change almost 30 years ago, we have been an acknowledged thought leader on the topic. To tackle the issue, we pursue a comprehensive strategy with four pillars. These are described below:

The four pillars of our climate change strategy

  • Advancing our knowledge and understanding of climate change risks, quantifying and integrating them into our risk management and underwriting frameworks where relevant;
  • Developing products and services to mitigate or adapt to climate risk;
  • Raising awareness about climate change risks through dialogue with clients, employees and the public, and advocating a worldwide policy framework for climate change;
  • Tackling our own carbon footprint and ensuring transparent, annual emissions reporting.