Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance firms, said that it met all its previously communicated sustainability targets for 2025, across underwriting, investments and operations.
As the company noted in its 2025 sustainability report, part of its annual report, gross written premiums related to natural catastrophe coverage reached $5.9 billion, slightly higher than the previous year ($5.8 billion).
It reported a 47% reduction in greenhouse gas intensity of its direct corporate bond and listed equity portfolio, compared to a 2018 base year, while the share of green, social and sustainability bonds in its public fixed income portfolio ‘remained stable’ at 5.1% (2024: 5.2%).
Swiss Re also reported that 56% of vendors by spend had science-based emissions reduction targets, up from 52% a year earlier, while it reported a 63% reduction in emissions from business air travel relative to 2018, and its operations continue to rely on 100% renewable electricity.
‘Swiss Re met all externally communicated sustainability targets for 2025, while maintaining our interim and long-term climate targets,’ it said in its report.
Core ambitions
For its 2026-2028 sustainability strategy, Swiss Re is focusing on two core ambitions: building societal resilience and supporting the transition to net-zero by 2050.
It said that it will continue to decarbonise its underwriting and investment portfolios, as well as internal operations, by phasing out its coal-related reinsurance business in OECD countries by 2030 (and globally by 2040), increasing the share of insured companies with science-based targets, and expanding investments in green bonds and infrastructure debt.
‘An integral part’
‘Sustainability is an integral part of Swiss Re’s Group strategy, and is fully embedded across our business activities,’ it noted. ‘As part of our ambition to build societal resilience, we continued to provide risk transfer products and solutions that support disaster resilience and provide access to life and health protection. Additionally, we remain committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in line with Swiss legal requirements.’
The group added that sustainability has been an ‘integral part’ of how it does business for several decades – in 1979, it published its first report on ecology and environmental protection, and its fist corporate environmental report in 1998. In 2019, it affirmed its commitment to achieve group-wide net zero emissions by 2050. Read more here.
