PCAF collaborates with NZIA to develop standard to measure insured emissions

Written by Adam Cadle

06/09/2021

The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), in collaboration with the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), has announced the launch of a working group comprising leading insurance and reinsurance companies to develop the first global standard to measure and disclose insured greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The PCAF Insured Emissions Working Group will include PCAF insurance signatories, founding NZIA members and other re/insurers. Other key stakeholders are welcome to join going forward.

NZIA said a global, standardised methodology to measure and disclose the GHG emissions of insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios would give insurers deeper insight into the risk profile of their respective underwriting portfolios, stimulate innovative approaches to decarbonisation, and create comparability for stakeholders. Furthemore, it said it would help re/insurers understand the climate impact of their underwriting decisions, laying the foundation to decarbonise their insurance and reinsurance portfolios through target setting, scenario analysis, strategy development, and individually taking concrete actions that have real-world impact through emissions reduction in the real economy.

The PCAF Insured Emissions Working Group said it recognises the insurance industry’s urgent need to measure and disclose insured emissions and will begin working immediately to meet the demand for such a methodology. While PCAF has developed a global standard to measure and disclose financed emissions in the context of investment and lending portfolios, there is currently no equivalent global standard for insured emissions.
 

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