Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate Change
• Responsible Investment

Environmental Achievements

• Swiss Re is among the first in the re/insurance industry to systematically integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmarks into its investment decisions.
• Developed a carbon risk steering mechanism to guide business towards a low-carbon world and support clients in their transition.

Social Achievements

• Co-led the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) to provide rapid financial support during disease outbreaks.
• Magnum software processed more than 10 million applications globally, providing data insights for clients to better understand customers and develop tailored products.

Governance Achievements

• Revised SRL, SRZ, SRCS and SRLC Bylaws to incorporate stakeholder feedback and anticipate corporate governance, legal and regulatory developments.
• Implemented the “Global Standard on Conflicts of Interest” throughout the Group.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Large natural catastrophe losses (USD 4.7 billion estimated insurance claims)
• Soft underwriting conditions in commercial insurance
• Low investment yields
• Increasing geopolitical risks
• Transformation of business models due to digitalization
• Climate change posing physical and transition risks
• Protection gap (underinsured risk pools)

Mitigation Strategies

• Maintained a strong capital position to respond to market developments and distribute excess capital to shareholders.
• Strengthened Corporate Solutions’ capital position with a USD 1.0 billion capital injection.
• Increased pricing discipline in re/insurance products (2% increase in prices in January 2018 renewals).
• Investing in research and development to understand and manage risks.
• Developing innovative insurance solutions to reach more people and close the protection gap.
• Integrating ESG criteria into investment decisions to mitigate risks and generate sustainable returns.
• Implementing a carbon risk steering mechanism and thermal coal policy.

Supply Chain Management

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Severe weather events impacting operations
• Increased frequency and severity of natural catastrophes
• Impact on economic viability of re/insurance

Transition Risks

• Climate-related litigation
• Technological and market shifts in green energy

Opportunities

• Development of new products and services to mitigate or adapt to climate risk

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD

Third-party Assurance: PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Parametric insurance solutions
• Digital life insurance platform (iptiQ)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Biodiversity
• Societal Resilience
• Affordable Insurance with Digital Solutions
• Responsible Investing
• Sustainable Operations
• Good Corporate Governance and Compliance

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced the carbon intensity of our corporate bond and listed equity portfolio by -34% relative to the base year 2018.
• Achieved 100% renewable energy in our operations.
• Wrote re/insurance for more than 9,100 renewable energy generation facilities, avoiding around 31 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
• Phased out the 5% most carbon-intensive oil and gas companies for direct and facultative re/insurance.

Social Achievements

• Launched the Swiss Re Life & Health Sustainability Initiative to improve access, availability, and affordability of life and health insurance products for underserved groups.
• Provided life and health insurance protection to more than 397,700 beneficiaries through a partnership with Women’s World Banking.
• Provided medical reimbursement cover to approximately 130,000 frontline health workers in Kenya.
• Supported Gavi’s COVAX vaccine procurement facility by providing insurance cover for 21 self-paying countries.

Governance Achievements

• Introduced an internal Carbon Steering Levy with an initial price of USD 100 per tonne of CO2.
• Launched the NetZeroYou2 Programme, resulting in more than 126,000 climate actions by employees.
• Received the Digital Trust Label for Magnum Go, an automated life and health underwriting solution.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Measuring the carbon footprint of insurance contracts remains a challenge.
• Data availability limitations in measuring underwriting carbon footprints.
• Addressing the societal impact of climate change on life and health re/insurance.
• Closing the flood protection gap in the US.
• Widening mortality and health insurance protection gaps in developing countries.

Mitigation Strategies

• Co-founded the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) to advance a methodology for calculating carbon emissions associated with insurance portfolios.
• Developed a comprehensive carbon steering mechanism and sharpened relevant policies of the ESG Risk Framework.
• Launched the Swiss Re Life & Health Sustainability Initiative to address the health insurance protection gap.
• Leveraged proprietary flood models to launch QuickFlood, a simplified flood insurance product for lower-risk flood zones in the US.
• Leveraged technology to provide affordable cover for more types of risks and ensure efficient claims handling.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 100% of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers completed ESG assessments by the end of 2021.

Responsible Procurement

• Group Sourcing Standard
• ESG Vendor Development Programme

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Natural catastrophes (windstorms, floods, droughts, wildfires)
• Rising sea levels
• Extreme weather events

Transition Risks

• Regulatory changes
• Market shifts
• Stranded assets

Opportunities

• Development of re/insurance solutions for low-carbon transition opportunities
• Investments in renewable energy infrastructure

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, SASB, TCFD, UN Global Compact, UNEP FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance

Third-party Assurance: KPMG AG

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy)
• Goal 13 (Climate action)
• Goal 3 (Good health and well-being)
• Goal 2 (Zero hunger)
• Goal 9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure)

Swiss Re's initiatives contribute to these goals through its re/insurance solutions, investments, and stakeholder engagement.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• QuickFlood
• Climate Risk Solutions
• Parametric reinsurance programmes for solar and wind farms in Vietnam
• Comprehensive solution for renewable energy provider in India
• Magnum Go

Awards & Recognition

• MSCI AAA rating
• Member of MSCI World ESG Leaders Index and MSCI World SRI Index
• Member of the CDP B list
• Member of the DJSI World Index and DJSI Europe Index
• Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index
• Digital Trust Label

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Advancing the net-zero transition
• Building societal resilience

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced GHG emissions from business air travel by 73% relative to the 2018 base year
• Reduced absolute Scope 1 GHG emissions by 31% compared with 2018 base year
• Reduced energy intensity by 41% compared with 2018 base year
• Maintained 100% renewable electricity
• 24% of total GHG emissions in scope compensated with carbon removal certificates
• USD 3.8 billion invested in green, social and sustainability bonds (95% of 2024 target)
• Additional USD 751 million deployed in social and renewable energy infrastructure debt since year-end 2019

Social Achievements

• Increased the internal Carbon Steering Levy to USD 112/tCO2e
• 107% gender promotion ratio in 2022
• 83% employee engagement score
• Two female candidates nominated for election as new Board members at the Annual General Meeting 2023
• 212 million Life & Health policies (in force) reinsured
• 490,699 beneficiaries in Women’s World Banking microinsurance programme

Governance Achievements

• 100% of Segment I and Segment II suppliers completed their ESG assessment
• Updated Global Framework for Anti-Bribery and Corruption
• Developed a “Modernised Training” platform for mandatory global compliance trainings

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Increased insured losses from extreme weather events exceeding USD 100 billion for the second year in a row
• Energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine
• Growing interest in sustainability among clients, investors, employees and civil society
• Evolving sustainability reporting frameworks and legal/regulatory requirements

Mitigation Strategies

• Sharpened focus of 2023–2025 Group Sustainability Strategy on two broad ambitions: “advancing the net-zero transition” and “building societal resilience.”
• Developed widely-accepted methodology for measuring insurance-associated emissions (PCAF)
• Developed NZIA Target-Setting Protocol for re/insurers to set interim decarbonisation targets
• Tightened Oil and Gas Policy and continued phase-out of thermal coal-related re/insurance
• Continued investment in social and renewable energy infrastructure debt
• Reduced carbon intensity of corporate bond and listed equity portfolio by 42% relative to 2018 base year
• Reduced GHG emissions from business air travel by more than 70% compared with 2018
• Joined NextGen Carbon Dioxide Removal Facility to scale up carbon removal technologies
• Maintaining a dialogue with clients on sustainability and building effective stakeholder engagements

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 100% of Segment I and Segment II suppliers completed ESG assessment

Responsible Procurement

• Targeted Standard on Procurement
• ESG assessments using IntegrityNext platform
• ESG Vendor Development Programme

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather events
• Flooding

Transition Risks

• Regulatory changes
• Market shifts

Opportunities

• Development of energy-efficient products and services
• Investment in renewable energy infrastructure

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, SASB, TCFD, UNGC, PSI

Certifications: ISO 14001, ISO 50001

Third-party Assurance: KPMG AG

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy)
• Goal 13 (Climate action)
• Goal 3 (Good health and well-being)
• Goal 1 (No poverty)
• Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities)

Swiss Re's initiatives contribute to these goals through renewable energy investments, climate risk mitigation, health insurance programs, financial inclusion initiatives, and efforts to reduce income inequality.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Parametric insurance products
• Climate risk solutions
• Renewable energy insurance

Awards & Recognition

• AAA MSCI ESG rating
• B CDP Climate Change Score
• 87/100 S&P Global ESG Score
• Best Corporate Sustainability Initiative award
• Employee Engagement ESG Programme of the Year award

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Net-zero transition
• Building societal resilience

Environmental Achievements

• 64% reduction in absolute GHG emissions from business air travel relative to base year 2018
• 45% reduction of carbon intensity of corporate bond and listed equity portfolio relative to base year 2018
• Maintained 100% renewable electricity use in Swiss Re’s operations

Social Achievements

• Achieved 36% female representation on the Board of Directors by year-end 2023
• Partnered with Wysa to create an insurance-specific mental health app

Governance Achievements

• Achieved externally communicated targets set for 2023

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Supply chain emissions are very challenging to measure

Mitigation Strategies

• Began engaging with vendors specifically on the topic of decarbonisation
• Requires new vendors supporting operations to complete an ESG assessment during the onboarding process

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 98% of Swiss Re’s largest annual spend vendors in scope had completed their ESG assessment by the end of 2023

Responsible Procurement

• ESG assessment for new vendors since 2021
• Vendor Development Programme

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Natural catastrophes

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• Growth in natural catastrophe re/insurance demand
• Opportunities for renewable energy re/insurance and renewable energy infrastructure debt and green bonds portfolio

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD

Certifications: Null

Third-party Assurance: KPMG AG (limited assurance on compliance with Swiss law)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Risk transfer solutions for renewable energy projects

Awards & Recognition

• Not disclosed