Hannover Re becomes third high profile insurer to exit Net-Zero Insurance Alliance
Germany-based insurance giant Hannover Re has confirmed to Net Zero Investor that it has decided to exit the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA).
The departure follows similar moves by Munich Re and Zurich in recent weeks.
It means the third high-profile loss for the association, which was launched at G20 Climate Summit in Venice in 2021.
In a statement, Hannover Re explained that it has decided to leave the NZIA after "careful consideration."
“Regardless of this, Hannover Re remains committed to its sustainability strategy, the associated goals and its support for the Paris Agreement, and aims to achieve full climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest,” the reinsurer stressed.
The company announced its net zero commitments in October 2021, which include a goal to get to net zero emissions by 2030 and in across its entire reinsurance portfolio two decades after that.
The NZIA is part of an alliance of bodies associated with The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) a group that formed during the COP26 climate conference as a coalition of financial institutions committed to net zero.
Also associated with GFANZ is the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, which saw Vanguard depart late in 2022.
Munich Re
It increasingly seems that Munich Re's departure, last month, set the mood for other insurers to walk out.
Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance firms, cited antitrust risk.
The company insisted that it would still keep to its climate targets of reducing carbon emissions in its investment portfolio by 29% by 2025, and net zero by 2050.
Explaining the decision to leave the NZIA, Joachim Wenning, chief executive of Munich Re, said in March: “In our view, the opportunities to pursue decarbonisation goals in a collective approach among insurers worldwide without exposing ourselves to material antitrust risks are so limited that it is more effective to pursue our climate ambition to reduce global warming individually.”
