The United Nations-convened Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero (FIT), chaired by UNEP, has launched a new guide, Underwriting the Transition, which is aimed at insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios.
The guide, which was unveiled at the FIT Transition Insurance Summit, hosted by EIOPA in Frankfurt, provides a ‘comprehensive and structured framework’ for insurance market participants – specifically insurers, reinsurers and brokers – to develop and disclose credible transition plans, the UN said.
It seeks to move the insurance industry beyond general climate commitments by outlining the clear elements that need to go into a credible transition plan, including a checklist for self-assessment, as well as showcasing examples from companies already implementing such approaches.
‘Pioneering guide’
“This pioneering guide paves the way for insurers, reinsurers and brokers to move beyond high-level commitments by independently implementing robust and actionable strategies that enhance long-term business resilience and company value, and help achieve global sustainability goals,” commented Butch Bacani, UNEP Head of Insurance and FIT Chair.
“By underwriting with foresight, and by accelerating and scaling up a just transition to a resilient net-zero economy, the insurance industry can lead with purpose and conviction in helping build inclusive, resilient and sustainable communities and economies, and reaffirm its role as society’s risk manager.”
FIT Transition Plan Project
Underwriting the Transition is the second release under the FIT Transition Plan Project, following on from the release of the Closing the Gap report at COP29 in Azerbaijan last year.
A third and final guide will be unveiled at COP30 in Belém, Brazil in November 2025, which will focus on balance sheet alignment, integrating underwriting and investment portfolios.
At COP29, Dyogo Oliveira, president of the Brazilian Insurance Confederation, outlined his ambition to build a ‘House of Insurance’ at COP30 that will serve as the main platform for climate ambition and action by the global insurance industry.
“As COP30 approaches, we look forward to working together with the Brazilian insurance industry, the wider insurance, regulatory and supervisory community, and key stakeholders—from policymakers and real economy actors; to the scientific and academic community, and civil society—and to making the ‘House of Insurance’ a symbol of inclusiveness, resilience, sustainability, and hope,” Bacani added. Read more here.
