Sustainable Markets Initiative Insurance Task Force (ITF) launches global pledge for sustainable supply chains

A key feature of the insurance sector is its role as an ‘enabler’, providing services across the whole of the global economy, with every home and business reliant on a range of insurance products. As an industry, insurers are making progress with reducing the carbon footprint of their direct operations, incentivising customers to reduce environmental impact and supporting them through the transition.

The ITF’s Global Supply Chain Pledge, led by Direct Line Group and AXA XL aims to drive greater sustainability across insurance industry supply chains. 

13 major insurers and brokers have signed the commitment to take action and support their supply chain partners to make the green transition. Signatories have made a commitment to take into account the emissions within their direct supply chain by focusing on three key actions:

1. Encouraging and helping suppliers to set meaningful sustainability targets with an ultimate goal of adopting Paris-aligned Net Zero Targets: insurers and brokers will, during procurement processes and then through ongoing engagement with suppliers, encourage supplier firms to set meaningful sustainability targets with the ultimate goal of adopting Net Zero Targets – for example, a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2030 in advance of reaching Net Zero by no later than 2050.

2. Advance initiatives with a goal of measuring the carbon footprint of insurance supply chains and report transparently on progress: to support more sustainable supply chains, the sector will develop methodologies for assessing and measuring the carbon intensity of suppliers to identify hotspots. Once established, these methodologies will be used to identify suppliers that have lower footprints or those who are taking active steps to increase sustainability.

3. Work to tackle supply chain carbon hotspots: signatories are committed to promoting engagement across the sector to address parts of the supply chain with the largest carbon footprint and facilitate best practices to drive up sustainability. This will allow insurers to replicate and build on the stewardship approaches adopted by investors and drive change in the supply chain at a sectoral level, rather than only on a case-by-case basis.

Download the best practice guidelines

Download the pledge

The 13 organisations who have signed the Pledge are:

1. Association of British Insurers

2. Aon

3. Ascot

4. Axa XL

5. AXIS Capital

6. Conduit Re

7. Direct Line Group

8. Howden Group

9. Legal and General

10. Lloyd’s

11. McGill and Partners

12. Phoenix Group

13. Tokio Marine Kiln

Disaster Resilience Framework for climate-vulnerable countries

Download the Disaster Resilience Framework

The ITF have launched a Disaster Resilience Framework for Climate-Vulnerable Countries. This framework aims to demonstrate the opportunity that exists to blend public and private investment with insurance that could reengineer and drastically improve disaster resilience in low- to middle-income countries who are most at risk from climate-exacerbated extreme weather events. It highlights the unique potential there is for multilateral development banks, international aid donor and the private sector to partner to create large scale, repeatable, efficient and high impact physical, economic and humanitarian financing and risk mitigation solutions for climate-vulnerable developing countries.

Sustainable Products and Services Showcase

Download the full Sustainable Products and Services Showcase

The ITF have published a Sustainable Products and Services Showcase, presenting the wide-ranging innovative insurance solutions currently available to customers to develop, invest in and scale their sustainability initiatives, supporting green innovation across multiple sectors and geographies. It shows the critical role the global insurance industry is already playing in underpinning and safeguarding the efforts of multiple industries as they drive climate-positive action to adapt and transition to a sustainable future and comes as action from one of the five commitments the ITF signed up to deliver throughout 2021.

Membership composition

The ITF is chaired by Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Lloyd’s Chairman, and championed by John Neal, Lloyd’s Chief Executive Officer. Its members are drawn from across the global insurance industry, including:

Further information

For roundtable and Task Force enquiries please contact:

Email: info@sustainable-markets.org