Climate Change Advisory Council set up to advise on strategic and operational issues
Zurich has launch of a global initiative focused on the development of products and services addressing evolving risks related to climate change.
In a related move, the group has also etablished a long-range carbon management strategy.
Zurich has established an internal Climate Office that will be charged with driving an understanding of climate related risks across its businesses. Reporting directly to Zurich’s Global chief underwriting officer, Mike Kerner, the Climate Office will be fully embedded in Zurich’s underwriting infrastructure.
In a statement the company said the new climate initiative would "establish a consistent and focused approach to the risk class globally, and facilitate economic and policy-oriented research that can then be integrated into the Group’s product development activities".
Zurich’s chief executive officer, James J. Schiro, added: "Kicking-off our global Climate Initiative today, I am convinced, sets Zurich on the course of becoming a leader in the identification and management of climate related risks, as well as preparing us to take meaningful and sustainable steps to manage our own carbon footprint."
In addition, Zurich has established a Climate Change Advisory Council consisting of both internal functional leaders and external advisors that will directly report to Zurich’s Group Management on strategic and operational issues associated with climate change.
Signaling the significance of these roles, Zurich announced that the first two external members of the Climate Change Advisory Council will be former US Congressman Sherwood Boehlert and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Dean of Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Both individuals are highly respected in the field of climate and environmental policy, and will add considerable value to Zurich’s climate efforts. Additional Climate Change Advisory Council members are expected to be named in the coming months.
The final element of Zurich’s climate initiative is the launch of an applied research program with organizations and institutions to examine the critical economic, finance and policy issues associated with climate change. The first such partnership is with Dean von Weizsäcker’s Bren School, where Zurich will fund a distinguished visitors program. As part of this partnership, the Bren School will assess Zurich’s carbon footprint and develop a consistent approach as to how Zurich can actively manage its carbon emissions in a meaningful and sustainable manner.
