Global Insurance Sector Receives fresh Guidance from PSI Nature Working Group on Nature Evaluations
In a significant move to support the global insurance industry, the UNEP Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) Working Group for Nature has launched the "Nature Uncovered for Insurers" series. This innovative set of guidance documents is designed to address a critical gap in tailored guidance for insurers regarding nature-related assessments.
The first installment of this series, titled "Rooted in Risk," was unveiled during London Climate Action Week. This report is a comprehensive guide that seeks to provide concrete guidance to insurers, helping them integrate nature-related risks into their risk assessment and management processes.
"Rooted in Risk" contextualizes existing nature-related approaches across both non-life and life & health insurance business models. It provides a technical basis to help insurers prepare for and conduct their own nature-related assessments, aiming to strengthen their ability to identify priority areas for action.
The report highlights the absence of dedicated methods for underwriting portfolios as a barrier for insurers seeking to understand nature-related issues in their portfolios. By addressing this gap, "Rooted in Risk" aims to help insurers identify how their underwriting portfolios contribute to, or are exposed to, nature-related issues. It also helps insurers identify which parts of their value chain may be exposed to nature-related issues.
The responses provided by the report are aligned with a nature-positive and resilient future. The series, overall, is expected to help the insurance sector better understand, assess, and manage risks related to nature and biodiversity loss in their operations and underwriting decisions.
The second part of the "Nature Uncovered for Insurers" series, titled "Breaking Ground," is set to be launched later this year. This series is a significant step forward in providing industry-specific guidance on nature-related risks, filling a critical need for the global insurance industry.
- The "Rooted in Risk" report, part of the "Nature Uncovered for Insurers" series, offers a technical basis for the insurance industry to integrate climate-change and nature-related risks into their financial and risk assessment processes, particularly in environmental-science and finance.
- In the comprehensive guide, "Rooted in Risk," the absence of dedicated methods for underwriting portfolios is identified as a barrier to understanding nature-related issues in insurance portfolios, with the aim to help insurers identify their contribution to, or exposure to, such issues.
- By addressing this gap in the insurance industry, the "Nature Uncovered for Insurers" series, including the initial release, "Rooted in Risk," and subsequent installments like "Breaking Ground," will contribute to a nature-positive and resilient future by improving the sector's understanding, assessment, and management of nature-related risks in their environmental-science and finance practices.
