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Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

17 February 2021 – The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review for 2020 has seen record improvement in scores across the ClimateWise membership.

Climate Wise Principles 202Download the ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 

Findings

The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2020 shows member insurance industry firms have made significant progress in disclosing their preparedness and response to climate change.

The Review records a significant increase in average score - from 55 per cent in 2019 to 65 per cent in 2020 - for the ClimateWise group of organisations. The increase in group scores in 2020 has been predominantly driven by members demonstrating significant progress in the incorporation of climate change considerations into investment and underwriting strategies, high participation by members in climate stress tests and improvements made in the integration of climate risk into existing risk management frameworks.

There remains scope for improvement and there is still a need for urgent action across the industry. The main focus for members this year will be on deepening the exploration and transparency of strategic resilience to climate change. This will most notably be through expanded adoption and depth of scenario analysis, demonstrating the outcomes and implications on resilience and the resultant impact on decision-making.

About

The ClimateWise Principles have provided a framework for the insurance industry to disclose climate-related risk and opportunity since 2007. All ClimateWise members report annually against this framework. Reports are independently reviewed, scored and anonymised in a combined report to form the ClimateWise Principles Independent Review.

Aligned with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations in 2019, this review marks the second year of TCFD compliant reporting. The results are encouraging, indicating ClimateWise members will be well prepared for forthcoming mandatory TCFD reporting.

Citing this review

Please refer to this review as University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Deloitte (CISL). (2021). The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2020. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.


Find out more about ClimateWise here.

Authors and acknowledgements

The independent reviewers and lead authors of this report were Katherine Lampen, Tasha Clarbour, Susie Douty, Neal Baumann, Roger Simler, Henry Jupe, James Mercer, Linda Hedqvist, Fay Hogg, Rosie Woodall and Ed Boyd of Deloitte.

The study design and editorial process was led by Rachel Austin, Bronwyn Claire, Thom Marx and Tom Yorke with input from James Cole, Nick Villiers and Adele Williams.

Copyright

Copyright © 2021 University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Some rights reserved. 

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not represent an official position of CISL, ClimateWise or any of its individual business partners or clients.

Published: February 2021