The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has recommended changes to the EU Taxonomy disclosure framework aimed at reducing reporting complexity, improving transparency and making sustainability disclosures more comparable across the insurance sector.
EIOPA published its final advice on 30 October 2026, following a request from the European Commission to review the requirements governing corporate disclosures under the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.
The recommendations focus on simplifying the reporting obligations of insurance and reinsurance undertakings while ensuring that reliable information about environmentally sustainable insurance activities remains available.
A key proposal is to revise the existing Underwriting Key Performance Indicator (KPI), which measures insurers' underwriting activities linked to climate change adaptation. EIOPA recommends renaming it the 'Adaptation Underwriting KPI' to better reflect its purpose and establish a more consistent approach to reporting.
The proposed changes would introduce a common methodology for calculating the KPI's numerator, addressing inconsistencies in how insurers currently report their figures. Under the recommended approach, companies would include only relevant insurance contracts and account for the proportion of gross written premiums or insurance revenue attributable to climate-related perils.
EIOPA also proposes limiting the denominator to eight eligible lines of business to improve the relevance and comparability of disclosures. Alternatively, insurers could be permitted to report a selection of these business lines, provided that the three most relevant to climate change adaptation are included.
The authority is also seeking to reduce unnecessary reporting requirements. It recommends removing the breakdown of gas and nuclear activities from insurance reporting templates, arguing that this information is not relevant to underwriting activities and is generally not material to insurers' investments.
Meanwhile, the potential introduction of a Green Insured Activities KPI, designed to measure how underwriting supports environmentally sustainable activities through a look-through approach, should be reconsidered in five years, according to EIOPA.
Further changes are proposed to the combined KPI used to measure exposures to insurance undertakings. Rather than relying on a weighted average, EIOPA recommends using either the Investment KPI or Underwriting KPI as the reference measure, depending on which better reflects the relevance of the underlying business activity.
The advice also addresses reporting requirements affecting financial institutions more broadly. Working alongside the European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), EIOPA recommends against introducing an Operational Expenditure KPI into financial undertakings' Taxonomy disclosures, even on a voluntary basis.
Group-level reporting is another area targeted for simplification. The European Supervisory Authorities recommend requiring full disclosures from the parent undertaking, supported by simplified disclosures from material subsidiaries where necessary. EIOPA also proposes using the parent undertaking's KPI, rather than a weighted average, to measure the group's exposure.
The recommendations follow a public consultation conducted between 1 July and 13 August 2026. The European Commission had requested technical advice from EIOPA, EBA and ESMA on ways to simplify and improve the EU Taxonomy disclosure framework.
While the proposals are intended to reduce administrative burdens and improve consistency, they also seek to preserve meaningful information for investors and other stakeholders assessing insurers' contribution to environmental sustainability.
The Commission will now be able to consider EIOPA's advice as part of its review of the disclosure framework. The recommendations do not, in themselves, change the existing reporting requirements.