Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)
Gearing up for regulation: The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2018
December 2018 – The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2018 finds the largest year-on-year improvement in group mean score against the Principles since 2014, and confirms the full alignment of the updated ClimateWise Principles with TCFD recommendations.
The ClimateWise Principles guide members’ contributions to the transition to a low carbon, climate-resilient economy and integrate a response to the climate risk protection gap – the growing divide between economic and insured losses – across their business activities.
Part of ClimateWise membership obliges members to report annually on their individual actions, allowing members to benchmark progress against their peers. An annual, public review highlights the overall progress being made by the ClimateWise community.
From 2019, the new ClimateWise Principles – aligned fully with TCFD recommendations – come into force. ClimateWise members have been at the forefront of climate-related disclosure for over a decade, voluntarily reporting against a large part of the TCFD recommendations. It is therefore a natural progression to align with the recommendations without losing the elements of ClimateWise reporting that fall outside the scope of TCFD but demonstrate the leadership shown by members, eg in informing public policy.
Findings
The 2018 review finds that ClimateWise members are, overall, continuing to lead the way in responding to climate change, and continue to make steady progress in addressing the risks and opportunities of climate change. This year saw the biggest year-on-year improvement in group mean score since 2014.
The greatest change in mean group score was the improvement in Principle 2 (Inform Public Policymaking). The insurance industry plays an important role in understanding the financial impacts society is likely to face as a result of climate change and so raising awareness of these issues is vital.
Citing this review
Please refer to this review as University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). (2018). Gearing up for regulation: The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2018. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
