In line with the work programme agreed by UNEP, and
under the direction of Butch Bacani – UNEP Programme Officer for the UNEP FI Principles
for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), the Consultant will assist with PSI programme
management.
As risk managers, risk carriers and investors, the
insurance industry is uniquely positioned to promote economic, social and
environmental sustainability—in other words, sustainable development.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues—or
sustainability issues—pose a shared risk to insurers, communities, businesses,
cities, governments and society at large, providing a strong incentive for
innovation and collaboration. Examples of sustainability issues include climate
change, natural disasters, degradation of natural resources and ecosystems,
pollution, negative impacts on heritage sites and native populations, illegal
fishing, human rights violations, child and forced labour, poor health and
safety, ageing populations, financial exclusion, lack of transparency, and
corruption.
The vision of the PSI
Initiative is of a risk aware world, where the insurance industry is trusted
and plays its full role in enabling a healthy, safe, resilient and sustainable
society. Its purpose is to enable the global insurance industry to better understand, prevent and reduce
environmental, social and governance risks, and better manage opportunities to
provide quality and reliable risk protection.
The four Principles for Sustainable Insurance,
including a list of possible actions, provide a common aspiration and global
framework for the insurance industry to manage ESG issues, and to strengthen
its contribution to building resilient, inclusive and sustainable communities
and economies. The Principles are structured according to the spheres of
influence of an insurance company, from core business strategies and
operations, through to business partners, governments, regulators and other key
stakeholders. Furthermore, the Principles promote accountability and
transparency.
Endorsed by the UN Secretary-General and insurance
CEOs, the PSI was launched at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development
(Rio+20) and has led to the largest collaborative initiative between the UN and
the insurance industry. Today, the PSI has been adopted by over 120 insurance
and stakeholder organisations worldwide, including insurers representing more
than 25% of world premium volume and USD 14 trillion in assets under
management.
As a global sustainability framework, the PSI is part
of the insurance industry criteria of some of the most important sustainability
indices, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), FTSE4Good, and
Brazilian Corporate Sustainability Index. In the 2017 DJSI ranking of insurers,
11 of the top 12 insurers were PSI signatories. Moreover, the PSI is recognised
in the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
As a global collaborative
initiative between the UN and the insurance industry, the PSI has carried out a
wide range of projects and activities that have led to many tangible and
impactful outputs over the years across key sustainability challenges and
opportunities. These include climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster
risk reduction, sustainable underwriting, inclusive insurance, climate risk
transparency, resilient cities and infrastructure, sustainable insurance
supervision and regulation, sustainable insurance and finance roadmaps,
tobacco-free finance, tackling illegal fishing, and protecting the ocean and
World Heritage Sites.