Business and consumers need to adjust their behavior to help limit the effects of climate change. Zurich Insurance has decided to take the lead.
The Swiss insurance company has pledged to utilize only renewable energy as power across all global operations by the end of 2022, it said in a statement released on Tuesday. It is part of a series of moves by the Zurich-based company to help limit global warming.
Zurich Insurance is the first insurer to sign up to the «UN Global Compact Business Ambition Pledge». The plan aims to limit average global temperature increases to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2030.
Pressure on Insurance Takers
The company will engage with clients and investors in a bid to help them adopt plans to reduce their exposure to thermal coal, oil sands and oil shales. Zurich has updated its position on carbon-intense fossil fuels.
Essentially, the Swiss company will no longer underwrite or invest in companies generating 30 percent or more of the revenue from the production and extraction of coal and oil sands. The same applies to companies that generate more than 30 percent of their electricity from oil shale or thermal coal.
Industry Standards
The Swiss firm has also pledged to play an active role in developing industry methodology for measuring the carbon footprint of liabilities to enable setting science-based targets in the insurance industry.
«As one of the world’s leading insurers we see first-hand the devastation natural disasters inflict on people and communities,» said Mario Greco, chief executive officer of Zurich Insurance. «This is why we are accelerating action to reduce climate risks by driving changes in how companies and people behave and support those most impacted.»
11 Years Left
The intergovernmental panel on climate change at the United Nations (IPCC) recently said that the world has 11 years to successfully transition to a new path or risk planetary warming with unimaginable consequences.
