THE 5 ITEMS INSURANCE DOES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

 Sustainability is a need that more and more people perceive and companies have been trying to apply it to their activities for a long time. From now on there will be an entity that will ensure that this commitment to sustainability, which goes far beyond the fight against climate change, is transformed into real and efficient actions within the financial sector. It is about FinResp, today we are talking about it and the principles that the insurance sector already applies to be sustainable.

Are Insurers For Sustainability? You are right. Although it may seem that insurance, which pollutes rather little, has little to do with sustainability, we have many things to say about it, and there are many things we can and do in this area. Specifically, five. For you to see:

Anyone who is aware of sustainability must know these three key letters, ASG, which stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. This term defines all those matters that are not only concerned with building a greener world, but with a world where quality employment is of quality and people's rights are respected, and a world in which the behavior of companies is the suitable for these purposes. Sustainability in the business world, then, is to pursue ESG objectives, if possible without leaving any letter on the way.

 1. Incorporate sustainability issues into insurance underwriting

Second, insurance can use underwriting for sustainability. This is especially visible in the case of environmental insurance. The insurer, as a good connoisseur of risks, is also aware of the best measures that can be taken to avoid or mitigate them. In the underwriting process, therefore, you can operate as a “prevention provider”, helping your client to improve their own sustainable management.

2. Spread the principles of sustainability

In the first place, insurance has committed to disseminating the principles for sustainability in its sector, as developed by the Finance Initiative of the United Nations Environment Program. UNESPA, the sector association, is part of FinResp, an association aimed at promoting sustainability in the financial sector; and, as such an association, it carries out a constant and active work of contact with its associates to spread these principles.

3. Collaborate with third parties to promote sustainable actions

Fourth, another thing that insurance does, following the principles of the UN, is to collaborate with third parties in the development of ESG actions and be transparent about all this. Suppliers, clients, governments, authorities, non-governmental organizations, foundations, other companies… the insurance sector has a relationship with all of them; which, in addition, has generalized the publication of sustainability reports that, in many cases, exceed the mandatory limits of the legislation on this matter.

4. Invest in ESG assets

Third, the insurance invests in ESG assets. It is an increasingly visible trend, both from the point of view of the positive appetite (purchase of green assets) and negative (waiving the acquisition of assets linked to policies incompatible with ESG objectives).

5. Generating quality employment

Fifth and last, but not least, Spanish insurance makes evident its commitment to the S of ASG by creating some of the highest quality jobs in the Spanish economy; jobs that have unbeatable levels of stability and that are among the best paid in the Spanish economy.

Of course, there is a long way to go. But the road has already started.