The Principles for Sustainable Insurance were introduced by Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General of the UN and Executive Director of the UN Environmental Programme, in Rio de Janeiro in the run-up to the Rio+20 Conference. Developed by the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), these principles are the culmination of a worldwide process of consultation and collaboration between insurers and other industry players. Munich Re has been involved since 2006 and recently, in its role as the Chair of the PSI Initiative, has worked in close cooperation with the UNEP FI to harmonise the principles now submitted.
The aim is to establish the PSI within the insurance industry as voluntarily agreed principles with worldwide validity. As signatories to the PSI, insurers undertake to consider environmental, social and governance aspects (so-called ESG aspects) along the whole value-added chain, i.e. to systematically take into account issues involving the ecology, social responsibility and corporate governance in their interactions and activities with all stakeholders. In keeping with these principles, companies set themselves individual objectives and formulate specific action plans. Progress reports are to be submitted on a regular basis. The approach taken by the Principles for Sustainable Insurance corresponds to that of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). In 2006, Munich Re was the first company in Germany to sign those principles for responsible (i.e. sustainability-oriented) investment.
The PSI were signed on behalf of Munich Re by Ludger Arnoldussen, member of the Board of Management: “Insurance, by its very nature, addresses the issue of sustainability in that it assesses risks and puts a price on them. Munich Re has a long-standing tradition of developing products that are both sustainable and enduring and of contributing its risk expertise to public debate. It is therefore entirely consistent and in line with this tradition for Munich Re to play an active role in this initiative by helping formulate principles for the insurance industry. At Munich Re, we plan to systematically integrate the PSI in decision-making processes throughout our Group and thus further enhance our risk management.” As was the case with the PRI, Munich Re was one of the very first German companies to commit to the PSI.
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