Global reinsurer Swiss Re has announced it will leave the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance. “Our commitment to our sustainability strategy remains unchanged”, Swiss Re said.
Which is the same sentiment other reinsurers have also expressed, that despite leaving the Alliance, nothing changes in their mission to push towards sustainable practices and a net-zero world.
German reinsurance giant Hannover Re announced that after careful consideration, it had opted to leave the NZIA, making it the third high-profile re/insurer to leave the UN-convened alliance in less than a month.
Hannover Re didn’t provide a detailed reason for leaving the NZIA, Munich Re had previously highlighted antitrust concerns as limiting the scope of its decarbonisation goals when it announced it would leave the Alliance, while Zurich noted a desire to focus its resources to support its customers with their transition in its announcement.
Major insurance and reinsurance industry names leaving the Alliance, some citing a concern over whether antitrust related issues could emerge as the market advances its net-zero agenda, in the face of US lawmakers that have been pushing-back on some ESG initiatives of late.
The pressure on NZIA members has been rising and a consortium of Republican state attorneys general wrote to insurers in NZIA, raising their concerns about the legality of their commitments to collaborate with other insurers and asset owners in order to advance an activist climate agenda.
by Yana Keller
