On Thursday 2 November 2023, at the ICMIF Sustainability Summit being held in London (UK), ICMIF launched the ICMIF Insurance SDG Benchmark. The benchmark is derived from the insurance SDG (i-SDG) scores of ICMIF members. It follows the launch of the ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator, the first tool to quantify insurance sustainability impact against the insurance Sustainable Development Goals (iSDGs), at the ICMIF Centenary Conference in Rome (Italy) in October 2022. Swiss Re Institute developed the underlying framework, which was calibrated with ICMIF members during 2022. The framework was inspired by the UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance (UN PSI) iSDG initiative, whose aim is to develop insurance-relevant adaptations to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ICMIF-calibrated framework enables ICMIF members to measure iSDG sustainability impact within a company’s insurance portfolios and business operations.

During 2023, several ICMIF members working with Swiss Re Institute have used the ICMIF-calibrated framework to derive individual iSDG company scores. The exercise provides participating members with individual impact metrics and scores across the framework’s current 49 indicators and the 17 SDGs. Swiss Re Institute has now aggregated the anonymised scores into ICMIF’s first Insurance SDG Benchmark. The benchmark allows participating members to also benchmark against their peers. Learn more about the collaboration between ICMIF and Swiss Re Institute to develop the ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator and Benchmark here.

Shaun Tarbuck, Chief Executive, ICMIF said “The ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator enables members to measure and track impact of their business on sustainability-relevant parameters. The ICMIF Insurance Benchmark provides a quantitative way to measure the success of our 4-year ‘leading with purpose’ strategy launched at the ICMIF Centenary in October 2022.”

This tool supports ICMIF’s current strategy by making available a tangible measure for SDG efforts to members whilst identifying focus areas for development. Once a scoring exercise is completed and areas for potential improvement are identified, members can leverage the ICMIF network to learn about other members’ best practices and further develop their own SDG strategies whilst working towards a sustainable future.

“ICMIF members can use the iSDG impact metrics and ICMIF SDG Benchmark to inform their business strategies using a data-driven approach,” said Alicia Montoya, Head Research Commercialisation at Swiss Re Institute. “Additionally, insurers can leverage Swiss Re’s SDG Analytics consultancy services to drill into SDG impact metrics at portfolio/product level, identify risks and opportunities, as well as simulate scenarios to help optimise their transition strategies.”

The ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator was co-created and tested by and with ICMIF members to ensure that it takes into account the mutual difference, eg highlighting the way in which mutuals and cooperatives prioritise the needs of their employees and member policyholders. The tool is a first step towards measuring ICMIF members’ own insurance sustainability impact and continuing to grow the strength of the mutual sector as well as the global insurance community.

Darin Lord Nessel, CEO Mutual Fire Insurance of British Columbia, said: “MFI had the pleasure of working with the Swiss Re Institute on developing the ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator and using it to calculate MFI’s first SDG company score. The overall benefits to our company are immense. The in-depth insights help us understand our current sustainability impact and effectively target measures to improve it across all facets of our company.”

For more information, please contact Liam Carter, Senior Vice-President, Sustainability, ICMIF.