Welcome to ICMIF's COP26 Sustainability Leaders event series. This November, to support the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference, which is set to be the most important and influential global event for climate change and sustainability, ICMIF will host a series of events for those involved in sustainability or disaster risk reduction at their organisation. The aim of these events is to strengthen the progression of the climate change agenda and help our members achieve their sustainability goals.
Sustainability is the undertaking of activities that demonstrate forward-looking social, environmental and ethical responsibility and is increasingly seen by ICMIF members as essential to the long-term success of their respective organisations. The greatest opportunity at this moment in time for engagement around sustainability and climate change is the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference.
Indeed, COP26 is now seen as the turning point for the future of our planet. Many organisations are focused on the COP26 event next month - but very few have an action plan or a strategy towards the event or, in some cases, the genuine threat of climate change.
The ICMIF strategy is clear and focuses on actions, not words. We have planned some important activities for our members that will coincide with the UN Conference and which we refer to as the ICMIF COP26 Sustainability Leaders event series. Full details and how and why to attend are below.
Whilst COP21 in 2015 was focused on the UN nation states and the commitments they made in the post 2-degree world – this year’s COP26 will be focused on what businesses will commit to. We fully endorse this intention but would reframe it as 'what actions can mutuals and cooperatives commit too?'
The power is in our hands, and we will be working with all our members, no matter where they are in their sustainability journey, to achieve the fundamental goal of net-zero. We encourage you to join us for the ICMIF COP26 Sustainability Leaders event series listed below.
In June 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, "We are in a race against time to adapt to a rapidly changing climate. Today, we are at 1.2°C of warming and already witnessing unprecedented climate extremes and volatility on every continent. As insurers and as investors, the insurance sector has a key role to play. Every country, city, financial institution and company needs to adopt plans for transitioning to net-zero emissions by 2050. That means taking decisive action now."
Climate change and the broader issue of sustainability are acknowledged by many as the defining global issues of our time. The growing demands on insurers to take action to tackle climate change issues are loud and clear. Regulatory and stakeholder pressure will accelerate the need for mutuals and cooperatives to be leaders in building a more resilient planet and a more sustainable society.
The ICMIF COP26 Sustainability Leaders event series includes:
"Finance is essential to accelerating the transition to net-zero and achieving the full ambition of the Paris Agreement. Over the past year, the public and private sectors have been working hard to put the plumbing in place to ensure that every financial decision takes climate change into account. In the final 6 months to COP26, we must build on that foundation through commitments to net-zero from the world's major private financial institutions and with new markets that help meet the needs of the developing world."
Mark Carney
The UK Prime Minister's Finance Adviser for COP26
ICMIF Sustainable Investment Report launch:
What are ICMIF members doing for climate change now and in the future
Monday 1 November 2021, 2pm GMT
To coincide with the start of the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference, this webinar presents the launch of ICMIF's first annual Sustainability Investment Survey Report. The report outlines the findings from a survey that was completed by ICMIF members in the second half of 2021 and details ways in which member organisations have committed their investment strategies to influence climate change.
Speakers:
- Fireside chat with Shaun Tarbuck CEO, ICMIF and Rob Wesseling, President and Chief Executive Officer, Co-operators (Canada)
Target audience:
- All ICMIF members with an interest in investing for sustainability.
Mutuals and the Sustainable Development Goals
The journey to sustainability by embedding the SDGs in strategy
Tuesday 2 November 2021, 2pm GMT
The sustainability conversations (Sustainability 1.0) started with the finance and insurance industries looking directly at avoiding the business risk associated with climate change. In 2006, the United Nations launched the Principles for Responsible Investment to help investors incorporate ESG factors into their investment and ownership decisions; ESG is now referred to as Sustainability 2.0. This was the start of the move from theory to action and prevention. Enter the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – a set of goals to help define and reach the world that we WANT to live in which takes us to Sustainability 3.0. Join us to hear from ICMIF members which are different stages of their sustainability journey. This session will be an interactive session with breakout rooms for like-minded members to network and brainstorm the achievements and development areas of their sustainability journeys.
Speaker information:
- Chair – Alicia Montoya, Head of Research Commercialization, Swiss Re Institute (Switzerland)
- Presentation – Tom Ewart, Senior Manager, Sustainability, Co-operators (Canada)
- Panel
- Betina Azugna, Sustainability Manager, Grupo Sancor Seguros (Argentina)
- Kaisie Rayner, Climate Change Lead, Royal London Group (UK)
- Marisa Parmigiani, Head of Sustainability and Stakeholder Management, Unipol Gruppo (Italy)
Target audience:
Closed member session for CEOs, Heads of Sustainability and Heads of Strategy.
To register your interest contact Liam Carter, Sustainability – Advisor to the CEO, ICMIF.
Mutuals and the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owners Alliance (NZ AOA) - Journey to net-zero
Monday 8 November 2021, 1pm GMT
The NZ AOA is a group of 43 of the world’s largest investors that have committed to reducing carbon emissions in their portfolio – worth USD 7 trillion in AUM – to net-zero by 2050. A number of members have publicly committed to the Alliance or are planning to do so in the new future. Join us to hear from one of the founding Alliance members to gain insight on their own journey as part of the NZ AOA. This session wil be an interactive session with breakout rooms for like-minded members to network and brainstorm their achievements and development areas of their net-zero journeys.
Speaker information will be confirmed soon
- Chair – Thomas Tayler, Senior Manager Sustainable Finance Centre of Excellence, Aviva Investors (UK)
- Presentations and discussion:
- Emilie Westholm, Head of Responsible Investments and Corporate Governance, Folksam (Sweden)
- Chad Park, Vice President, Sustainability & Citizenship, Co-operators (Canada)
Target audience:
Closed members session for CEOs, CFOs, Heads of Sustainability and Heads of Investment.
To register your interest contact Liam Carter, Sustainability – Advisor to the CEO, ICMIF.
ICMIF DRR Hub launch - Prevention as a strategic advantage for mutuals
Monday 22 November 2021, 3pm GMT
The definition of a knowledge hub is a collection of documentation, purposed to make it easy to find solutions to problems. The ICMIF DRR Hub is a new resource for members to access examples of mutual and cooperative global best practice in the areas of disaster risk reduction and prevention and stimulate conversation across the our network. Building on the From protection to prevention: The role of cooperative and mutual insurance in disaster risk reduction report launched earlier this year, ICMIF is compiling a DRR Hub of case studies, dedicated to sharing and benchmarking DRR activities throughout the membership. Join us for the launch of this Hub and learn more about the ICMIF DRR Benchmark in the making.
Speaker information will be confirmed soon
- Chair – Irina Zodrow, Head, Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
- Hub demonstration: Liam Carter, Sustainability, Advisor to the CEO, ICMIF
- Presentations:
- Chad Park, Vice President, Sustainability & Citizenship, Co-operators (Canada)
- Marc Scheers, Manager Research & Innovation, Achmea (Netherlands)
Target audience:
All ICMIF members with an interest in insurance disaster risk reduction and prevention.
