INSIGHT by the United Nations Environmental Programme
In light of the recent discussions within the United States, some members of the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), particularly those with significant US business and exposure, have made the individual and unilateral decision to either remain or withdraw from the NZIA. As a voluntary initiative convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), every company has the freedom to join or withdraw from the NZIA at any point in time and for any reason.
Regardless of the situation, UNEP reaffirms its conviction ever since it initiated, convened, and launched the NZIA—that in order to successfully tackle the climate emergency, there is a fundamental and urgent need for collaboration, not just individual action.
Regardless of the situation, UNEP reaffirms its conviction ever since it initiated, convened, and launched the NZIA—that in order to successfully tackle the climate emergency, there is a fundamental and urgent need for collaboration, not just individual action.
The NZIA has provided a framework that enables insurers and reinsurers and other insurance market participants across the globe to individually start or propel their respective net-zero insurance journeys and take urgent and ambitious individual, unilateral climate action. This is why UNEP will continue to strengthen and deepen its collaborative work with the insurance industry and key stakeholders to advance net-zero insurance thinking and practices globally.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 Synthesis Report has reiterated that the climate emergency is an unprecedented global crisis that requires urgent and ambitious action by all actors in society in order to protect lives, livelihoods, and assets; and to protect communities, cities, and countries. Global warming has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts in every region of the world, and every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards (IPCC, 2023).
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The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) was initiated and convened by the United Nations in association with the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and under the auspices of UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI). The NZIA was launched at the G20 Climate Summit in July 2021 to speed up and scale up action to support the transition to a net-zero economy and tackle the climate emergency. NZIA members are committed to unilaterally and independently transitioning their respective insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
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