Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Climate product

innovation within

the insurance sector

The University of Cambridge Institute for

Sustainability Leadership

The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership

(CISL) is a globally influential Institute developing leadership and

solutions for a sustainable economy. We believe the economy can be

‘rewired’, through focused collaboration between business,

government and finance institutions, to deliver positive outcomes for

people and environment. For over three decades, we have built the

leadership capacity and capabilities of individuals and organisations,

and created industry-leading collaborations, to catalyse change and

accelerate the path to a sustainable economy. Our interdisciplinary

research engagement builds the evidence base for practical action.

ClimateWise

ClimateWise supports the insurance industry to better communicate,

disclose and respond to the risks and opportunities associated with the

climate-risk protection gap. This is the growing divide between total

economic and insured losses attributed to climate change.

Representing a growing global network of leading insurance industry

organisations, ClimateWise helps to align its members’ expertise to

directly support society as it responds to the risks and opportunities of

climate change.

Authors and acknowledgements

The lead authors of this report were Deloitte’s Neal Baumann, David Rush,

Andy Masters, Katherine Lampen, Greg Lowe, Tasha Clarbour, Margaret Doyle,

Peter Evans and Rosie Woodall, Icebreaker One’s Jannah Patchay, and Willis

Towers Watson’s Lucy Stanbrough.

The study design and editorial process was led by Rachel Austin and

Bronwyn Claire.

The authors would like to thank colleagues from participating

organisations at: Aon, Argo Group, Axa XL, Beazley, Brit Insurance, Ki,

Howden Group, Lloyd’s of London, Munich RE, QBE, and Tokio Marine &

Nichido Fire for their invaluable contributions.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not

represent an official position of CISL, the University of Cambridge, or

any of its individual business partners or clients. This report is not, and

should not be construed as, financial advice.

This publication has been written in general terms and we recommend

that you obtain professional advice before acting or refraining from

action on any of the contents of this publication. Deloitte LLP accepts

no liability for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining

from action as a result of any material in this publication.

Deloitte LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and

Wales with registered number OC303675 and its registered office at 1

New Street Square, London EC4A 3HQ, United Kingdom.

Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom affiliate of Deloitte NSE LLP, a

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company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"). DTTL and each of its member

firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL and Deloitte

NSE LLP do not provide services to clients. Please click here to learn

more about our global network of member firms.

 
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Climate product innovation within the insurance sector 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 
 
Executive Summary  ...................................................................................................................................... 5 
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7 
Climate-ready insurance products ................................................................................................................ 8 
Paper outline ................................................................................................................................................. 8 
Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 9 
The role of the insurance industry in enabling the net zero transition ........................................................ 9 
Insurance product innovation opportunities for net zero ..........................................................................11 
Barriers to growth in net zero product innovation.....................................................................................17 
How the insurance value chain can help ....................................................................................................19 
The current state of the market .................................................................................................................21 
Key priorities to enable climate innovation in insurance ...........................................................................22 
Recognise the role of government and engage ..........................................................................................23 
Co-ordinate the value chain on innovation for net zero ............................................................................24 
Drive long-termism .....................................................................................................................................25 
Enhance data and models ...........................................................................................................................27 
Upskill functions with a deeper technical understanding of climate risks and opportunities ...................28 
Innovate product structures .......................................................................................................................29 
Incorporate the management of climate risk in commercial priorities .....................................................30 
Actions and next steps ................................................................................................................................31 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Executive Summary

The insurance industry has a critical role to play in enabling the transition of the wider economy towards

net zero, and in mitigating the risks associated with climate change. To date, when insurance firms have

sought to address climate risk mitigation, they have tended to focus on the asset side of the balance sheet.

Insurers need to broaden their efforts and focus more energy and investment on innovating for climate

transition risk mitigation across the ‘core’ value chain; that of the insurance product itself and how it’s

delivered. In this paper, we address this change in focus, and examine the role of underwriting and product

innovation in contributing towards a net zero economy.

Given the urgency of action on climate change and the transformational changes this demands, insurance

product innovation is key. This is required through a number of areas – how the industry helps and

incentivises policyholders to decarbonise relevant assets and activities; how it underwrites to enable net-

zero business models, technologies, and lifestyles; and how it decarbonises the claims process and

ecosystem to establish more environmentally sustainable outcomes on the journey to net-zero.

Opportunities exist through the design and pricing of policies, claims and risk advisory services to

incentivise climate mitigation and to support the growth of low carbon solutions that support and

accelerate the transition towards net zero.

The pace of change in the insurance industry on climate change is accelerating, but still falls short of that

required to enable the development and scaling of new and existing low carbon technologies and of the

infrastructure required to support them. New insurance products and accompanying risk mitigation

offerings are required to support scaling of these low carbon technologies and infrastructure, and enabling

capital to be deployed towards them. The industry needs to rapidly lean in, in order to meet the existing

risk transfer and reduction needs of clients’ decarbonisation pathways, to anticipate evolving demand, and

to drive and incentivise their transition to net zero. This demands a more proactive approach where

customer awareness may be low, and clients’ own transition strategies are still relatively nascent, lacking

the clarity required in terms of evolving risk transfer and advisory needs. Accelerating insurance product

innovation demands a more collaborative approach – within firms, across the industry value chain, with

clients and with the wider financial services sector to shift the economy towards net zero. There is more

work that the broader insurance value chain can do, collaboratively, to orchestrate towards net zero

outcomes, for a more rapid transition.

ClimateWise members seek to be at the forefront of product innovation, driving and enabling the

transition. This white paper represents an initial contribution from ClimateWise, to showcase the role of

innovation across the insurance value chain in driving the transition. Our aim is to support and accelerate

the industry’s response to the challenges of climate risk mitigation and the transition to net zero. We do

this through highlighting the current market state, and further potential for development, across nine key

priority areas in insurance product innovation to support climate mitigation:

1. Enabling and incentivising low carbon choices

2. Mainstreaming the encouragement of climate mitigation through efficient and resilient reinstatement

3. Implementing environmentally sustainable claims servicing

4. Enabling capital flows towards green solutions through risk transfer solutions

5. Creating removal-based carbon offsets through natural capital protection

6. Scaling emerging and existing low carbon and net-negative technologies and start-ups

7. Supporting the sustainable decommissioning of carbon-intensive assets

8. Developing risk advisory services to support clients’ climate mitigation understanding and approach

9. Developing solutions for reducing climate liability and environmental litigation

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

To support action across these nine priorities for net zero insurance product innovation, we propose seven

recommendations aimed at addressing barriers to innovation, to support, enable and accelerate progress

on this urgent agenda:

1. Actively engage with government on transition protection needs and private-public partnership

opportunities to facilitate blended-finance approaches to scaling risk-transfer capital, such as through

state-backed reinsurance pools.

2. Upskill to enhance an ‘engineering’ approach to underwriting, building on close relationships with

technology developers of all sizes.

3. Coordinate across the insurance value-chain across brokers, insurers and others to reduce duplication

through a common industry framework that recognises the unique role each player should address to

achieve net zero.

4. Drive ‘long-termism’ through a culture that incentivises innovation and works to reduce barriers that

tend to embed static business-models.

5. Enhance structuring of existing climate data and development of key climate models, bringing

together model-vendors, in-house analytics teams, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to

access key data sources and advise on best practice.

6. Innovate product structures and new insurance offerings that are aligned to client needs, ensuring

clients and customers are aware of how newer products and structures, such as usage-based products

or parametrics, can benefit them.

7. Align insurance solutions with insurers commercial and climate objectives so growth areas, such as IP

insurance or risk consulting, appropriately integrate climate considerations in ways that enable

additional innovation.

Together, these should inform the industry’s focus on innovation and its enablement in the mobilisation of

innovative solutions towards a net zero economy.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Introduction

2021 must be the year of action for protecting against the disastrous effects of climate change

. The science

is clear; there is consensus that global emissions must drop by 50% within this decade for the world to have

a chance of staying within 1.5 degrees of global warming and avoiding the most catastrophic consequences

of climate change

. The process of transitioning to a low carbon economy, at the unprecedented scale and

pace required, has clear and immediate implications for the entire global economy.

The Bank of England identifies three types of risk rising from climate change as having a material financial

impact: transition risk, physical risk and liability risk.

Meeting – and even exceeding – the emissions

reduction targets set by the Paris Agreement will require radical changes to be made

. No industry or sector

will be left unaffected. The OECD estimates that, globally, EUR 6.35 trillion a year will be required to meet

Paris Agreement goals by 2030

, with major changes led by the business community and with support from

consumers. The insurance sector will be critical to enabling the smooth flow of capital to facilitate this

transition process, which will include the implementation of actions to mitigate climate change, and to

reduce global emissions. The Taskforce for Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD) defines transition risks as

the: “extensive policy, legal, technology, and market changes to address mitigation and adaptation

requirements related to climate change. Depending on the nature, speed, and focus of these changes,

transition risks may pose varying levels of financial and reputational risk to organizations.”

As ‘society’s risk manager’

, the insurance industry has a critical role to play in enabling mitigation and

adaptation in response to climate change. From risk services that help reduce transition risks for clients, to

the creation of incentives towards a lower carbon economy, through the insurance products it offers to

customers, the transition presents an opportunity to build a more sustainable industry for the future

Net zero and the insurance value chain

Net zero refers to the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, often with a focus on carbon

dioxide. The IPCC’s SR1.5 report

defines net zero emissions as “achieved when anthropogenic emissions of

greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period.” The

Science Based Targets initiative specifies two conditions with which businesses that are working to achieve net

zero emissions must comply:

1. “Achieve a scale of value-chain emission reductions consistent with the depth of abatement achieved in

pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot.

2. “Neutralise the impact of any source of residual emissions that remains unfeasible to be eliminated by

permanently removing an equivale nt amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.”

When considering the scope of action on net zero, we refer to Greenhouse Gas Protocol

which shapes focus

on emissions measurements across direct and indirect emissions, as defined by the Scope 1, 2 and 3 Standards.

Thoughtful and systematic planning is required in order to inform decision-making around interventions

Drawing on the Race to Zero criteria

and categories in the recent assessments of net zero targets

, insurers

considering net zero alignment for underwriting are looking to focus on insured clients and the activities insured,

as well as the lines of business offered. This will demand the development of new products, updates to existing

insurance products and increasing sophistication in risk advisory services for climate mitigation. In order to drive

change for net zero in insurers clients’ activities through innovation in insurance offerings, collaboration will be

required both upstream and downstream across the insurance value chain.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Climate-ready insurance products

The concept of net zero underwriting builds on the established need for “climate-ready” insurance

products and their definition, defined by Icebreaker One’s Standard for Environment, Risk and Insurance

(SERI) programme as products that: “incentivise certain behaviours in the business models of the companies

and individuals buying insurance. This includes incorporation of net zero objectives and outcomes into their

business model and operations and demonstrating greater resilience and adaptation in response to climate

and environmental risks.”

Brokers can work with insurers to provide commercially attractive opportunities that can help customers

manage their own transition, whilst reducing the risk to the insurer. This can be achieved by incentivising

positive climate mitigation behaviours in policyholders via reduced premium costs. It is critical that the

industry’s pace of innovation around insurance products to enable the transition is able to match the needs

of the wider economy. We must avoid the creation of new ‘coverage gaps’ in the form of net zero

technologies for which a lack of insurance coverage might hold back the development, adoption or scaling.

Further work outside the industry is required in order to identify the set of potential products in the

property and casualty markets that can best deliver net zero outcomes in a ‘just’

manner. Brokers and

insurers will need to test the appetite of policy buyers and wider market participants, and to explore their

transition challenges and risk management requirements, when exploring the means by which demand can

be stimulated in order to accelerate the transition. Life insurers and their product offerings will further

investigation, with the opportunities less immediately obvious.

This report represents a collaborative effort by ClimateWise, Deloitte and Icebreaker One to seek answers

to a fundamental question: what are the major opportunities for product innovation in driving the

transition to a net zero future with which senior leaders should engage, and what actions can the industry

take to move forwards at pace? The report builds on previous research by ClimateWise, which examined

policy opportunities to support net zero underwriting.

Paper outline

The first section of this paper recognises the unique role of the insurance industry in enabling the transition

of the wider economy towards net zero. The next section focuses on the current state of product

innovation in the market to support and incentivise climate mitigation, including progress in

decarbonisation and the development and scaling of net zero solutions. This includes discussion of the key

opportunities in underwriting for product innovation for net zero, examples of successful innovation and

further opportunities, and barriers to growth. Thirdly, we examine how the insurance value chain can help

in the transition, both as individual players and through increased collaboration. Finally, we look at key

priorities and ways in which product innovation for a net zero future can be enabled and accelerated, and

next steps.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Methodology

The concept for the report was developed in partnership with ClimateWise Members, who identified a

need to explore industry innovation around climate change and potential barriers to insurer contributions

in achieving net zero and building resilience.

The report was developed leveraging interviews with industry experts conducted between March and April

2021. The interviews focused on innovation, including:

• Examples of product innovation

• Approaches to driving and governing product innovation internally

• Market drivers and challenges

• Wider value-chain enablers and barriers

• The role of policy and regulation, and data and analytics

• Potential solutions to the challenges surfaced

• Recommendations to support increased climate product innovation

The interviewees spanned a range of insurance professions, industry types, organisations and regions

across the world to gain a broad perspective from across the insurance value chain, including leaders in:

innovation and incubation, underwriting, actuarial, international policy and engagement, strategy; and

green technologies.

The role of the insurance industry in enabling the net zero transition

The role of insurance in technological advances for climate mitigation

Given the high risks from early-stage start-ups or technology, insurers play a critical role in supporting net

zero technology innovation through underwriting, enabling low carbon industries and companies to

develop, implement and scale. In this context, underwriting provides a mechanism for managing and

mitigating the risk associated with net zero technology innovation. It can also provide confidence to

investors, banks and project developers to explore and provide capital towards net zero technologies and

companies, by de-risking the opportunities.

Underwriters can ensure that their risk models do not inhibit the ability of new technologies to scale, where

often challenges exist in the lack of historical data against which to assess the risk. Via this mechanism, the

industry directly enables the transition through underwriting support for new net zero products and

services. The industry’s deep risk expertise can also be used to reduce the risk in the development and

deployment of net zero technology, from innovative construction methods through to new manufacturing

processes. This is critical, given that in clean energy alone, it is predicted that global investments will need

to more than triple by 2030 in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2050

As low carbon technologies advance, there is also an important role to be played by the industry, as old

technologies are retired in line with nationally determined contributions and sectoral decarbonisation

pathways. In the context of the phase-out of fossil fuels, underwriting plays an important role in

decommissioning the infrastructure and assets and the restoration of sites.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Net zero insurers and brokers

Insurers and brokers are increasingly examining the concept and implications of net zero. Many have made

individual and public commitments, with timelines often more ambitious than government policy. Aviva

was the first major insurer to commit to a target of net zero by 2040 earlier this year, exceeding the

requirements of the Paris Agreement. Similarly, the AHJ Group recently attained the status of becoming the

first “Climate Neutral” Lloyd’s Broking House, when working with ClimatePartner.

As these commitments

to net zero underwriting are made, the industry is considering how to align strategies with a pathway to

1.5⁰C. Net zero underwriting strategies demand focus on the impact and opportunities this will create

across the different lines of business, driving the need for iterations to existing products, and innovation for

new offerings.

Industry coordination towards net zero

More broadly, there is recognition of the need for collective solutions to aspects of the transition, requiring

industry-wide co-operation

. ClimateWise has an established group of insurance industry participants who

are committed to underwriting portfolios aligned to net zero. Members of this group are piloting practices,

tools and knowledge aimed at building capacity and enabling the insurance industry to make and act on the

commitment. The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) of seven insurers and reinsurers (6 being ClimateWise

members) will be launched at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) this November.

Collective action between reinsurers and insurers is not, however, the only form collaboration required to

support insurance product development. For the industry to most efficiently play its vital role in innovating

for the transition, increased opportunity for collaboration exists across the wider insurance value chain –

from brokers to loss adjustors, modellers and legal firms.

Just transition and insurance protection

In the industry’s definition and pursuit of net zero, it is important that ‘just transition’ considerations are

incorporated in order to avoid inadvertently widening the insurance protection gap. Protection gaps may

arise from any new restrictions in cover, or in circumstances where the pace at which the industry

innovates its protection products and risk advisory services does not meet the advances in demands from

the wider economy’s transition. The Paris Agreement states that Parties to it should take into account the

imperatives of a just transition of the workforce, and the creation of decent work and quality jobs, in

accordance with nationally defined development priorities

. The incorporation of just transition concepts

into product innovation strategies for net zero can itself drive new product development opportunities, for

example linked to workers’ compensation insurance for adversely affected workers from carbon intensive

sectors

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Insurance product innovation opportunities for net zero

Our research has identified a number of driving forces that are shaping the demand and opportunity for

product innovation for net zero across the industry (Figure 1):

Figure 1. Stakeholder drivers of net zero product innovation in insurance

In light of these stakeholder drivers, and recognising the vital role that insurance plays in enabling the

transition of the wider economy, as well as the opportunities for influence throughout underwriting policy

design, pricing and claims, we have identified nine priority areas where insurance product innovation can

support climate mitigation:

1. Enabling and incentivising low carbon choices

1. Enabling and

incentivising low carbon

choices

2. Mainstreaming the

encouragement of

climate mitigation

through efficient and

resilient reinstatement

3. Implementing

environmentally

sustainable claims

servicing

4. Enabling capital flows

towards green solutions

through risk transfer

solutions

5. Creating removal-

based carbon offsets

through natural capital

protection

6. Scaling emerging and

existing low carbon

technologies and start-

ups

7. Supporting the

sustainable

decommissioning of

carbon-intensive assets

8. Developing risk

advisory services to

support clients’ climate

mitigation understanding

and approach

9. Developing solutions

for reducing climate

liability and

environmental litigation

risk

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

There is a heightened public awareness of climate change, and of the need to make an impact in terms of

managing and mitigating climate-related risks. Retail consumers are increasingly looking to businesses and

service providers for guidance and assistance in this process.

For insurers, this represents an opportunity

to promote and incentivise low carbon solutions with customers, and to incentivise environmentally

sustainable behavioural change in policyholders. In doing so, insurers can raise awareness and accelerate

demand for low carbon products, through their policy options and pricing. These techniques are widely

being deployed in personal insurance, but not yet in commercial, despite the latent and growing demand

evident in the doubling of corporate commitments to net zero over the past year

. Examples include:

• Policy options to support climate awareness and mitigation: Zurich is providing low carbon choices, in

order to raise awareness of climate impacts and mitigation in the personal insurance space. This

includes, for example, providing carbon offsetting optionality for personal travel insurance, and

opportunities to select green initiatives to which company donations can be made, in zero claims

years.

• Incentivising climate positive behavioural change: RSA is incentivising customers to reduce their

personal vehicle usage, through motor policy design and pricing for low mileage motorists, providing

cheaper rates of insurance for those who use their car infrequently.

• Incentivising low carbon solutions: The Hartford incentivises electric vehicle usage over petrol or diesel

cars, through premium discounts to motor policies.

Further innovation in product development is required in order to enable low carbon choices and

incorporation of incentives for low carbon solutions and behavioural change across broader policies,

business lines and customer segments.

2. Mainstreaming the encouragement of climate mitigation through efficient and resilient

reinstatement

The claims process provides an opportunity to influence policyholders in making their homes and

businesses more resilient to transition risks. This is not currently the norm, with the majority of climate-

related reinstatement centring around adaptation and mitigation for climate change. Incentives towards

building in decarbonisation measures through reinstatement can be provided both before and after an

event. Effective innovation through reinstatement requires collaboration and education across the

insurance value chain. This creates an opportunity to support customers’ transition strategies, whilst

enhancing the industry’s own resilience to transition risks.

Examples of the industry building climate mitigation into the reinstatement process to date are largely

centred around home insurance policies and commercial property insurance. This is critical, given that

buildings account for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions across Europe.

Examples include:

Supporting the retrofit of the built environment through reinstatement: Zurich’s Commercial Insurance

Property has built retrofitting into the claims process through cover including reinstatement and use of

sustainable building materials. Their ‘green endorsement’ covers the additional costs of reinstatement with

products or building materials from sustainable material manufacturers. Similarly, for personal customers,

RSA provides customers with the option to make greener choices by recommending energy efficient

replacements of damaged goods following a claim.

The innovation opportunity for reinstatement is relatively unexplored. This should be a priority for the

industry to examine across wider business lines, with an initial focus on carbon-intensive policies, where

cost-efficient lower-carbon or energy efficient alternatives exist.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

3. Implementing environmentally sustainable claims servicing

Claims servicing can represent a substantial source of emissions within insurer’s own supply chains, and

servicing of claims can lead to waste and ongoing emissions. Implementing environmentally sustainable

claims servicing - by encouraging repair over replacement, reducing waste or improving waste

management, or by providing or requiring the use of recycled parts - can contribute towards decarbonising

the claims process at either no or low cost

. Innovative responses to this challenge are widely seen in

personal motor and property insurance, these are, however, yet to be adopted at similar scale across wider

business lines:

• Encouraging ‘repair over replace’: RSA is working with suppliers to encourage a ‘repair over replace’

philosophy by recommending sustainable claims solutions for customers to consider.

In 2019,

through this repair over replace approach to claims servicing for motor insurance, RSA repaired 40,000

windscreens, saving 1,500 tonnes of carbon emissions and 540 tonnes of glass waste going to landfill.

During this repair process, customers are also incentivised to use electric vehicles.

• Giving policyholders recycled options: Tokio Marine & Nichido also promotes repair over

replacement, and promotes the use of recycled automobile parts for personal motor insurance

customers for any repairs and replacements.

4. Enabling capital flows towards green solutions through risk transfer solutions

There is a $23 trillion investment potential associated with mitigating the worst effects of climate change

ahead of 2030

. There is increasingly widespread recognition of this opportunity across capital markets,

with many investors, asset managers and banks committing to scaling up green financing in support of the

transition. Through innovation in underwriting products, the insurance industry plays a critical enabling role

in the wider economy’s transition through de-risking green financing opportunities, supporting capital flows

to green solutions that might otherwise have been deemed too high-risk.

For nascent net zero technologies such as carbon-capture storage (CCS), where limited loss-histories are

available, or long-term capital is required, underwriting can provide the confidence to investors and project

developers to support the scaling of these solutions. The industry also plays an important role in supporting

the growth of low carbon companies, with limited loss histories themselves, by de-risking debt-based

financing, to lower the cost of capital. Innovative examples of underwriting products that enable capital

flows towards green solutions and companies include:

• Use of a double trigger in warranty insurance to lower the cost of capital for smaller start-ups and

support scaling of solar: Munich Re has developed a tailored renewables technology underwriting

offering for both manufacturers and investors in solar. This includes a warranty insolvency protection

to lower the cost of capital for solar PV by ensuring that, in the event of a solar manufacturer’s

insolvency, the policy can be passed on to the registered buyer, providing investors with confidence

over the coverage of any future warranty claims.

Further work is required to raise awareness of the availability of insurance solutions such as these, amongst

capital markets participants. There is an urgent need for greater collaboration across the wider financial

sector, given that many of these emerging net zero solutions, and the firms providing them, are still in their

infancy. This poses a significant growth opportunity for the industry, with predictions in Swiss Re’s Sonar

2020 Insight Report that, by 2050, emerging technologies such as CCS have the potential to grow to a size

that will rival today’s oil and gas industries.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

5. Creating removal-based carbon offsets through natural capital protection

Whilst ambitions should very much be focused on the ‘zero’, rather than the ‘net’, element of the net zero

equation, the practical reality is that some hard to abate sectors may have to rely on greenhouse gas

removals – via carbon offsetting, for example – to compensate for unavoidable residual emissions.

Nature-based solutions can support with carbon removal through sequestration. A recent WEF report,

published in May 2021, predicted that nature-based solutions could provide one-third of the climate

mitigation to reach a 1.5- 2°C pathway by 2030 — and at a lower cost than other forms of carbon dioxide

removal.

Through protection for natural capital resources, the insurance industry can contribute towards

climate mitigation efforts and help support scaling the supply side of voluntary carbon markets for carbon

offsets. It is estimated that the voluntary carbon market needs to grow more than 15-fold by 2030 in order

to support the investment required to deliver the 1.5°C target.

Whilst innovative examples of nature-

based protection exist, these are not yet replicated at scale:

Mangrove restoration insurance: AXA XL has been working to determine the feasibility of using

insurance to cost-effectively help restore mangrove forests after extreme weather events.

Mangroves are a critical nature-based solution offering increased resilience and helping protect

against coastal flooding. A parametric insurance policy based on wind speed is most feasible and

could be paired with a traditional indemnity policy to cover both short-term and longer-term

restoration actions.

• Coral reefs and carbon sequestration: Swiss Re’s innovative natural capital solution for coral reefs on

the Yucatan Peninsula combines the carbon sequestration benefits of natural capital protection with

their physical resilience benefits. The solution ensures rapid disbursement of funds to enable trained

and experienced community members to respond to reef damage, resulting in the world’s first nature-

based solution to protect Mexico’s coral reef.

As the market for voluntary carbon offsets grows

, the industry should maintain a focus on scaling proven

innovation around protection for high-value nature-based offset solutions. Advances in initiatives that

support the exploration of nature-based solutions, their opportunities and their valuation, such as the

recently launched Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), are expected to drive growth

in this area of product innovation, as the links between a nature-positive and net zero economy are better

understood.

6. Scaling emerging and existing low carbon technologies and start-ups

The transition to net zero will require significant technological transformation. The International Energy

Agency (IEA) states that, at net zero emissions, emerging low-carbon electricity, bioenergy hydrogen and

hydrogen-based fuels will be required in the same share of final energy needs as currently provided by

fossil fuels.

Innovating and tailoring underwriting products to provide support for high-risk early-stage

start-ups or technology, by providing a mechanism for managing and mitigating the risks, can help prevent

risk models from inhibiting the scaling of those critical technologies.

Challenges to underwriting often arise, in terms of the lack of historical data against which to assess the risk

for technologies still in their infancy. As these technologies develop, and a critical tipping point is reached

whereby adequate data exists on loss histories, data-driven innovation opportunities are opened up. There

are a number of interesting examples across the industry, in which competitive and tailored offerings have

been developed for net zero technologies:

• Providing packaged programmes of insurance to renewable technologies: Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire

(TMNF)’s Mega-Solar Package Program combines insurance coverage across property, liability and

warranty, with risk consulting services, for solar power plant facilities. This packaged protection

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

programme provides confidence throughout the lifecycle of renewable technology, from development,

testing and commissioning, construction, distribution and operation, to support their scaling.

• Use of index-based insurance products to support renewables scaling where there’s volatility in

generation linked to weather-based factors: Swiss Re has developed customised, index-triggered

protection products for wind and solar energy, that safeguard against loss of income due to adverse

high or low wind conditions, lack of solar irradiation or variations in water levels. The Solar Irradiation

Index, an annual insurance product, provides protection for photovoltaic plant operators, should levels

solar irradiation fall below that expected.

Insurers should consider scaling packaged solutions currently offered for solar, to other maturing

renewable technologies. There is also an opportunity to develop and leverage a more data-led approach to

underwriting technologies, such as solar, as increased data becomes available on loss-histories.

Furthermore, innovation opportunities exist to provide tailored protection products for more nascent

renewable technologies such as hydrogen, CCS and battery storage.

7. Supporting the sustainable decommissioning of carbon-intensive assets

In order to meet the Paris Agreement, fossil fuels must be phased out. Currently fossil fuel assets, in

particular coal plants, are not being shut down at the rate required in order to limit global warming to

1.5°C. Research shows that coal must be phased out globally by 2040 if we are to meet the commitments

made in Paris.

In the context of the energy transition, and phase-out of fossil fuels, insurance products can

support decommissioning the infrastructure and assets, and the restoration of sites. First and third-party

protection products are being provided for oil and gas pipelines, platforms and infrastructure, and coal

plants:

• Providing bespoke protection products to support the decommissioning of fossil fuel assets: Aviva’s

surety business provides guarantee for the reclamation work to remove oil pipelines and to restore land

to its original state. Aviva holds the corporate guarantees or collateral as security, thus guaranteeing the

completion of the reclamation work, which is vital in supporting the energy transition.

Further opportunities exist to scale tailored decommissioning protection products for broader technologies

through the transition, both within and outside of the energy sector. As new net zero technologies reach

the end of their lifetime, this will also include developing tailored new first and third-party protection

products in the renewables, hydrogen and CCS sectors.

8. Developing risk advisory services to support clients’ climate mitigation understanding and

approach

Product innovation for net zero extends beyond protection products and into adjacent risk advisory

services. Through the industry’s deep risk expertise, a range of opportunities exist to support the transition.

Risk advisory services can be deployed to reduce the risk in the development and deployment of net zero

technology, from innovative construction methods, through to new manufacturing processes. Risk data,

analytics and modelling solutions are also being provided to help clients identify climate risks and to

manage them more efficiently:

• Providing risk solutions to help clients identify measure and respond to transition risks and

opportunities: Willis Towers Watson helps the finance industry, corporates and governments

successfully navigate the whole-economy transition to a net zero and climate resilient future through its

suite of climate data and analytical tools, Climate Quantified™, leveraging the Climate Policy Initiative

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

(CPI)’s EF CVaR platform.

Climate Quantified provides support to financial institutions from portfolio

analysis and financial hedging, through to applying strategic risk evaluation tools, to help the private

sector develop transition risk management strategies.

• Risk advisory services to support the scaling of low carbon technologies through insight on how to

reduce, manage and mitigate risk: Aon has a dedicated Renewable Energy Practice

which provides

expert risk advice and broking services, supporting the management of risk throughout the lifecycle of

renewable energy assets, from tidal to biofuel and small-scale hydro. Munich Re

is providing risk

consulting and engineering expertise aimed at reducing risks to manufacturers of renewable energy

technology, to support efficiencies in the innovation process and reduce risk throughout construction

and development.

To date, a large focus of industry climate risk advisory services has been on building out adaptation and

resilience capabilities. Open risk analytics can also increase confidence over transition risk analysis, build a

wider view of transition risk, and create transition risk indices to benchmark and track resilience and

progress. For example, the Climate Transition Pathways initiative (see box below) is designed to reward

businesses that commit to transition to a low-carbon economy, with continued access to insurance capacity

and capital.

9. Developing solutions for reducing climate legal liability and environmental litigation risk

Climate change litigation is on the rise.

Examples of climate litigation include administrative cases against

governments and public bodies, claims against corporations perceived as perpetrators of climate change,

and claims from investors against corporations for failing to account for possible risks to carbon-intensive

assets, or failing to disclose risks to business models and value chains in financial reporting

44,45

. Innovation is

required in existing legal liability insurance products, in order to provide protection products that can keep

pace with the evolving climate liability risk needs of the wider economy. It is anticipated that demand will

continue to grow for these and for wider specialist climate legal services, as climate risk management and

the associated disclosures become increasingly mandated.

Case Study: Supporting clients in their transition to net zero

Climate Transition Pathways (CTP) is an accreditation framework created by

Willis Towers Watson and independent third-party groups including Volans, a

consultancy responsible for the Bankers for Net Zero initiative, and the Climate

Bonds Initiative (CBI), a global investment organization committed to climate

resilience. Headed by a CTP governance committee, it supports business to

access insurance capacity and capital while sustaining an orderly transition to

low carbon commitments. Businesses benefit from an independently assured

accreditation of their transition’s alignment to the Paris agreement, helping

them

to stand out from those making more unsubstantiated claims. Insurance and

capital markets can then have confidence to allocate capacity/capital knowing

that a rigorous assessment of a company’s alignment to Paris, and its ability to

deliver this plan, has taken place.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

The industry is already on the front-foot in examining updates to existing climate legal protection products,

and in the provision of increasingly specialised legal services:

• Considering updates to Directors and Officers (D&O) liability insurance policies from climate change:

Willis Towers Watson shared insights examining the impact of pending cases and litigation threats to

directors and officers on the pricing, and coverage of D&O, including potential need for additional

protection to cover long tail claims.

RSA has made amends to D&O liability insurance coverage, with

exclusions from Directors and Officers cover for the fossil fuels industry.

• Providing focused climate legal liability protection support to net zero technology innovation

companies: Chubb has partnered with Cleantech

, the largest private sustainable, technology

innovation company, to provide bespoke insurance legal liability solutions as Cleantech grows, including

solutions focused on intellectual property rights and environmental liability.

In the context of an increasingly regulated environment, extending beyond environmental law and

regulation to areas such as asset management, finance, insurance, tax and many more, businesses are

looking to their lawyers for deep knowledge of all the issues and out-of-the-box thinking to guide them

through the transition. Further growth will be required in specialist climate legal expertise and services.

The insurance industry value chain, in partnership with advisory partners, plays a key role in raising

awareness of best practice climate risk management with risk management professionals. For example,

many brokers and advisory firms are helping insurers better understand the requirements of supervisory

statements, such as SS/319 in the UK, that can improve risk management practices around climate risk. This

deepening of understanding and sharing of best practice can help reduce risk that could lead to future

litigation, thereby reducing future losses.

Barriers to growth in net zero product innovation

The market for climate insurance products is inhibited by barriers to growth on both demand and supply

sides (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Key barriers to growth in product innovation for net zero

On the demand side, some potential customers, across both personal and commercial lines, remain

sceptical of climate risk, or underestimate its impacts. Evidence from experiments in behavioural

economics indicates that people tend to be poor judges of risk, and consistently underestimate it. For

insurers, the challenge is compounded by existence of climate risk scepticism, as well as a reluctance

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

among many customers to share data with their insurance providers. In a recent global survey of potential

new home insurance products, only 11 per cent of customers elected for a ‘connected and cost focused’

home insurance product that provides assistance with managing household running costs, as well as an

opportunity for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprints

In addition, the cost of climate risk-focused insurance products - even in the case of innovative new

products that can be cheaper than alternatives, such as parametric insurance - can be prohibitive. Other

important would-be customers are often unaware of the tailored products that the industry has developed

to support them. For instance, many small green technology companies, which play an important role in

developing low-carbon technologies critical to the transition, are unaware of the insurance industry’s

solutions to their coverage challenges.

The role of insurance is often seen as secondary to sources of financing - a view which fails to appreciate

the strength of linking these approaches together. Insurance products aimed at the risks facing emerging

technologies and clean-tech start-ups can both facilitate their development and financing by de-risking, and

in the case of the latter, giving greater certainty to investors. For example, parametric insurance can offer

innovative ways of covering risks that may not be easily covered or priced with traditional indemnity

insurance.

On the supply side, growth is inhibited by a lack of co-ordination across the value chain. This manifests in

multiple areas, such as a lack of data sharing across brokers and insurers, and duplication of roles across

different links in the chain (e.g. product development split across brokers and insurers). The consequence is

a diminishing of the division of labour enabled by the value chain’s structure, and a lack of cross-industry

collaboration on ‘big’ climate challenges.

“Large corporates are not asking for climate related insurance products.”

Head of Innovation, International Insurer

“Brokers understand the client need best. They can cut out primary research by the

insurer [on client needs] when they do this well. Brokers’ strength is their network,

which they can leverage for client research and product distribution.”

Head of Incubation Underwriting, London Market Insurer

“Many of the investors do not understand this kind of insurance [which protects their

financial investment in solar plants] exists as it is not broadly offered by climate insurers.”

Head of Green Tech Solutions, International Reinsurer

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

The property and casualty insurance industry largely runs on annual policy cycles that do not fit well with

the long-term view required to respond most effectively to climate change. This is an issue for both clients

and insurers, as the typical policy period is one year, after which point business may not be renewed. It is

therefore critical that the industry is able to effectively communicate climate risks and the need for longer-

term strategy development to their clients, and to explain why initiatives, such as the Climate Transition

Pathways initiative, are starting to emerge. On the insurance side, compensation for underwriters is often

tied to annual loss ratios, which incentivise ‘sticking with what you know’. This is an issue that has been

exacerbated by heavy claims in some areas of the renewable energy market, such as offshore wind, and

one that will not change without the introduction of measures that link rewards to performance against

climate incentives.

Data quality is also an issue. The data required in order to develop innovative products and to underwrite

climate risks may not be available, or where it is available, it may be unstructured or of poor quality. Data

may exist, but in an effectively unavailable form, locked up in systems that are not accessible or integrated

with the tools used in risk modelling and product development. This makes it extremely difficult to form an

holistic view of a risk, let alone an holistic view of many correlated risks, within an underwriting portfolio.

There remains a great deal of uncertainty around the future path and impacts of climate change, which is

dependent on the outcomes of actions that are, in many cases, yet to be taken. This uncertainty renders

many traditional catastrophe risk models, which do not encompass principles of either climate or scenario

analysis, less useful as tools for understanding the impacts of physical risk ion assets. While climate stress-

tests and scenario analyses are becoming more prevalent in the industry, they are not commonly

integrated into underwriting decisions, portfolio management or financial planning.

The industry also faces skills gaps. For example, underwriters are often deep subject matter experts

focused on relatively well understood risks but not emerging technologies, such as those being developed

in the renewable energy space. A recent study of underwriter recruitment showed that less than one per

cent of job descriptions required an understanding of emerging technologies

. We therefore include the

development and scaling of technical approaches to underwriting as one of the seven key priorities to

enable climate innovation in the insurance industry.

How the insurance value chain can help

A successful transition to a low carbon future hinges on two broad strategies. First, we must reduce

greenhouse gas emissions as far as possible; and second, we must remove carbon from the atmosphere,

and safely store it. Transition will only occur through the development and use of technology,

infrastructure and a wide range of other ‘green’ assets. This demands transformational change in every

sector.

Insurance can play a key role in helping enable the transition for customers and the wider economy by

helping them understand, reduce and mitigate climate risks. By ultimately removing risk-based barriers to

growth, it can enable a more confident and smooth transition.

As well as product solutions to physical, liability and transition risks, the players in the insurance value chain

all hold pieces of the puzzle, and innovation will be needed in all areas to mitigate climate change. To

enable a successful transition, the industry must accelerate the development and take-up of new and

existing products for the net zero transition. Furthermore, a systemic problem requires a systemic solution.

The industry needs greater co-ordination and collaboration across the different sub-sectoral players in the

value chain.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Roles of the insurance value chain on innovating for net zero

Innovation around climate mitigation, which is a sub-set of broader innovation across the insurance

industry, has been rapidly climbing the agenda. The past year has seen announcements from across the

value chain committing to net zero, including the launch of new net zero industry initiatives, such as the

Net Zero Insurance Alliance.

The industry’s role in developing new products and services to support the transition and adapting existing

ones demands action from each part of the insurance value chain:

• Brokers – understanding the client challenges and demands, their specific transition risks and risk

transfer or wider risk service needs, co-developing products with insurers to meet current and evolving

demand and most importantly, using their network to increase penetration for existing products and

services that support net zero and raising awareness of these risk transfer and advisory solutions. As

aggregators of risks across industries, brokers are in a unique position to create facilities that can

‘crowd in’ the insurance capital needed to scale the transition. For example, the London and

International Insurance Brokers Association (LIIBA) has recently published a paper on the role of

brokers in the industry’s push towards net-zero.

As one of the largest brokers, Aon committed to

net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 in March 2021.

• Insurers – innovating underwriting, products and claims and wider risk advisory services required to

enable the transition and support the scaling of low carbon solutions. Innovation in risk transfer

solutions is required to enable, drive and accelerate the wider economy’s transition. Leveraging and

commercialising insurers’ adjacent risk advisory services are also important to clients’ climate

mitigation understanding and approach. Aviva became the first major insurer worldwide to target net

zero carbon by 2040 in March 2021.

• Reinsurers – supporting direct writers, i.e. insurers, to develop and scale innovations, primarily

through the provision of reinsurance capacity and risk expertise, reinsurance creates stability through

the transition, and enables sustainable economic growth. Given their position in the value chain, they

have a uniquely broad view of transitional climate risk. Swiss Re committed to ambitious carbon

reduction targets across its investment portfolio, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

• Modellers and model-vendors – given the complexity and interconnectedness of the transitional

climate risk landscape, risk modellers and model vendors are critical in the provision of increasingly

sophisticated multi-vulnerability models and analytics. These enable the provision of forward-looking

forecasts of climate risks, leveraging latest developments in data, modelling, machine learning and AI

tools.

• Loss adjustors – confirming the claim circumstances, the extent of any damage caused, and

assessment of claims coverage by policies, including claims pay-out. Loss adjustors have a role to play

in leveraging the claims process to incentivise and improve the environmental sustainability of any

repair and reinstatement. As claims emerge in relation to emerging low carbon technologies, evolving

skillsets are required to investigate, research and predict the frequency of claims.

• Legal firms – against the backdrop of rising regulation around climate change, whether linked to

legislated net zero commitments, industry or environmental legislation, or the litigious environment

and precedent, the risk and complexity in potential litigation and liability risks increases. Legal firms

play an important role in advising on litigation risks, including liability under financial services

regulations, corporate law, financial disclosures, risk management, directors’ duties, environmental

law and helping to identify opportunities for growth linked to the legislative landscape.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

The current state of the market

At the industry level, strategies for climate change are relatively immature. Nonetheless, net zero strategies

and their impact across business lines, products and services are emerging across a range of dimensions

(Figure 4). In terms of selecting ‘where to play’ in the market, the industry is considering how to support

the growth of net negative and low carbon solutions, incentivise and accelerate behavioural change, and

enable the wider economy transition through new and updated products and services. When developing

net zero product strategies there are a number of strategic choices which can be made, including ‘where to

play’, to generate positive impact and leverage opportunities to influence the transition – and ‘how to win’

to enable successful insurance product innovation at pace. Strategies for ‘how to win’ are based on

modifying the underwriting approach, risk advisory services and new data and technologies and

partnerships.

Figure 3. Emerging net zero product strategies

Where to play – Many insurers are offering tailored solutions that support the scaling of emerging and

existing renewable technologies and low carbon or cleantech start-ups. This includes support for net zero

and net negative solutions; for example, nature-based solutions that can underpin removal-based offsets,

or technological removal. As we have seen, some are considering, risk transfer solutions, such as

performance guarantees or warranties. These can better enable capital flows from the wider investor and

banking community towards green solutions. In deciding where to play, the industry is considering where it

can best influence and encourage low carbon choices. Demand can be accelerated through, for example,

efficient and resilient reinstatement and environmentally sustainable claims servicing. Consideration should

also be given to how transition risks create further opportunities for product innovation; for example, when

linked to the decommissioning of fossil fuel assets or increasing climate legal liability and environmental

litigation.

How to win – In the case of new technologies for which data on loss history is lacking, some insurers are

taking a more technical approach to innovating underwriting. They are leveraging external engineers or

biochemists to understand how the technologies work in detail and to assess the risk, as opposed to more

traditional approaches which use past loss data to predict future risk (see Munich Re case study on page

16). As low-carbon technologies evolve, tipping points often occur. This is observable in the case of solar, as

sufficient past loss data is becoming available to support a more data and AI-driven approach.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Key priorities to enable climate innovation in

insurance

Given the important role the industry plays in the transition to net zero, we have identified seven key

priorities to enabling a more proactive approach to climate innovation:

Figure 4. Seven key priorities to enabling a more proactive approach to climate innovation

1. Actively engage with government on transition protection needs and private-public partnership

opportunities to facilitate blended-finance approaches to scaling risk-transfer capital, such as through

state-backed reinsurance pools.

2. Upskill to enhance an ‘engineering’ approach to underwriting, building on close relationships with

technology developers of all sizes.

3. Coordinate across the insurance value-chain across brokers, insurers and others to reduce duplication

through a common industry framework that recognises the unique role each player should address to

achieve net zero.

4. Drive ‘long-termism’ through a culture that incentivises innovation and works to reduce barriers that

tend to embed static business-models.

5. Enhance structuring of existing climate data and development of key climate models, bringing

together model-vendors, in-house analytics teams, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to

access key data sources and advise on best practice.

6. Innovate product structures and new insurance offerings that are aligned to client needs, ensuring

clients and customers are aware of how newer products and structures, such as usage-based products

or parametrics, can benefit them.

7. Align insurance solutions with insurers commercial and climate objectives so growth areas, such as IP

insurance or risk consulting, appropriately integrate climate considerations in ways that enable

additional innovation.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Recognise the role of government and engage

As the insurers of last resort, governments have a key role and have often looked to the insurance industry

to help them understand their own risk exposure, as well as the role that private capital can play in

efficiently transferring those risks. At present there are no risk pools to protect against events linked to

climate change with global coverage

. The international risk pools that do exist, which provide insurance

on a larger scale and at a lower cost that would otherwise be possible, are regionally focused (such as the

as Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) and tend to allocate a large proportion of claims to

immediate post-disaster relief. Furthermore, these have largely focused on the physical risks of climate

change rather than the energy transition. Looking forwards, the industry should look to align with

government, building on the opportunities raised in the recent ClimateWise publication on policy

opportunities on the road to net zero underwriting

and where specific gaps are identified.

Create new and enhance existing risk pools – Whilst challenging from a co-ordination perspective, there

are certainly clear opportunities for governments and supranational institutions, such as the World Bank

and European Union, to collaborate on risk pools that explicitly consider climate risks. Furthermore, to

speed the transition, these pools could provide funds, not only for disaster relief but also for rebuilding

damaged infrastructure on a sustainable basis. Recent examples include the parallel programme for the

African Risk Capacity. Extended to a larger scale, this will require close collaboration and significant political

will and commitment from multilateral stakeholders.

Just as governments have created ‘bad banks’ for poorly performing assets in the aftermath of financial

crises, governments could also pool risks for carbon intensive industries that the industry may no longer

want to insure, with provisions around decommissioning attached.

State reinsurance – Similarly, governments in advanced economies can support investment in emerging

market green infrastructure via reinsurance. They can provide state-backed reinsurance for cross-border

investment risk where the private sector has limited risk appetite. This would provide much-needed

additional liquidity to the market, and also fit in with governments’ role in promoting development and the

fight against climate change. Additional benefits could accrue where the investment portfolios of the

reinsurance placement must be aligned to net zero criteria or green asset ratios.

Case Study: Public-private innovation programmes for climate and disaster

resilience

Willis Towers Watson and Hannover Re, as members of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF),

together with the international humanitarian assistance and sustainable development

organisation Global Communities, have joined forces to develop resilience strategies in

communities susceptible to natural catastrophes in Medellín, Columbia. Collaborating closely with

the city’s government, the partnership will use climate risk insurance to integrate finance and

supporting services, bringing protection to the most vulnerable exposed populations.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Co-ordinate the value chain on innovation for

net zero

Recommendations for opportunities to increase industry collaboration across the value chain to support a more

efficient and proactive approach to product innovation for net zero include:

Brokers

–

Focus on developing a deep understanding of clients’ transition strategies, risks and needs, which they are

in the best position to do, mitigating the need for insurers to run primary research on climate mitigation risk

advisory, analytics, modelling and risk transfer needs. This can increase efficiency across the value chain in proactive

client-centric product innovation towards net zero. Brokers can also work with insurers to raise awareness and scale

the uptake of evolving innovations in net zero risk transfer and advisory solutions. Brokers can also help accelerate

the scaling of transition solutions by creating dedicated facilities for low-carbon technologies that would pool a

broader range of capital than might be accessible from a single insurer.

Insurers

– Assess the impact of net zero strategies across business lines and customer segments to proactively

identify

required updates to existing risk transfer solutions and advisory services that mitigate climate change.

Working together, insurers can more effectively tackle the big challenges on climate insurance, such as a lack of

structured risk data. For example, InsurTech Hailios is working with Lloyd’s of London insurers to create grids of

sensors that could be used as a market-data solution

Through engagement with the wider industry value chain

insurers can: drive efficiencies in the product innovation process; address distribution challenges where awareness

of evolving products is low; and increase capacity towards a just transition to net zero.

Reinsurers

–

Given their position in the value chain, there is an opportunity to share a more systemic and aggregate

view of transition risk with insurers. This can drive the identification of new opportunities. It can also help the

industry to avoid unintentionally widening the protection gap through any coverage restrictions as insurers activate

net zero strategies, and to underpin the rate of innovation required to keep pace with the wider economy’s risk

transfer needs.

Loss adjustors

–

Focus on how the claims process can be decarbonised and collaborate with insurers to proactively

drive innovation in mechanisms to leverage the claims proves to improve environmental sustainability through

reinstatement. Trends in policy claims coverage linked to the transition can be proactively shared, driving further

innovation and identifying any emerging ‘just’ transition challenges.

Legal firms

– In the context of an increasingly regulated and litigious environment on climate change, legal firms can

proactively help the wider value chain to identify and manage emerging liability risks linked to the transition,

opportunities for growth linked to the legislative landscape, and updates to existing liability insurance offerings.

There are also opportunities for increased collaboration with the wider financial sector, and potential to build hybrid

insurance-capital markets solutions that can better support the transition to net zero. For example, as parametric

products and their pricing strategies have evolved, insurers have gained expertise that often overlaps with

derivatives markets. Whereas both derivative and parametric solutions can be used as hedging instruments, an

insurance approach has generally been used for low-probability high-impact risks, with a derivatives approach being

taken for high-probability, low-impact risks. In some instances, the lines between the two can begin to blur, and this

has created additional regulatory challenges. For example, a parametric insurance product might be reclassified as a

derivative by regulators. The insurance firm offering the product would then be required to obtain authorisation

under MiFID in the UK or EU, with significant regulatory capital and operational impacts. In order to address these

edge case challenges arising from product innovation, a more joined-up approach to regulating banks and insurers

may be required.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Drive long-termism

The University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL) promotes increased long-term

value creation by companies and in the economy as a whole, as well as more sustainable business practices

by companies

. A lower carbon future will require a more strategic approach to climate change to be

taken. This in turn demands a longer-term view of transition risks, and of customers’ risk advisory,

reduction and risk transfer needs, as opposed to traditional, short to medium term planning cycles.

Compensation – Adjust compensation structures so that they better incentivise underwriters and asset

managers to take a longer-term view, as opposed to the current system of bonuses tied to annual loss

ratios. This could include factoring multi-year profitability and the net carbon-intensity of underwriting

portfolios into compensation, or a blend of these and other factors

Lessons from market innovation strategies

There is no single, universally applicable, optimal strategy and structure that firms can use to

implement and accelerate their own net zero transition. At present, insurers are using a variety of

structures to support their innovation efforts, of which three stand out as most frequently

employed. Each has a different mix of strengths and challenges, such as those outlined for three

common structures in Figure 5. Regardless of the innovation structure adopted, success in

individual organisations is derived, to a significant extent, from senior leadership sponsorship and

support, enabling each structure to thrive in ways unique to the culture of the firm.

Figure 5. Key strengths of different innovation structures

Decentralised – the firm spreads innovation responsibilities across multiple areas of the business.

For example, product innovation may be split across incubation (e.g. developing new products for

renewable energy technology) and development (e.g. improving how standard covers respond to

climate-related natural catastrophes). Technology innovation may be run as a ‘horizontal layer’

spanning multiple business areas given its broad applicability.

A key strength of the decentralised structure lies in the ability to situate relevant expertise ‘close’ to

the problem. For example, responsibility for adapting existing products to encompass new risks

might sit with underwriting teams that already understand the relevant products and are closely

connected with affected clients. Product teams may also have the end-to-end capability to take an

idea from concept to live product. For this reason, a decentralised structure is best suited to

product innovation, as opposed to other types of innovation. In some cases, business model

innovation may require an ‘outsider’ perspective to be brought into the mix, for example from

clients or from other industries and firms which have successfully implemented change.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Core-resource – the locus of innovation responsibilities resides with a core team. For example, an

innovation team may sit at the corporate level, within the CEO’s office, and is tasked with

examining innovation holistically, rather than from a deep functional perspective. This structure

typically includes a Head of Innovation. The team may be supported by dedicated resources,

including technology and project management.

The key strength of this structure is that the innovation team has a clear mandate from senior

leadership to ‘get things done’ and can take a firm-wide view. Furthermore, given their range across

the business, centralised innovation teams have the purview to tackle major innovation questions,

such as how to disrupt the business model. In turn, this remit can be a powerful magnet for

attracting new talent from outside the industry, given that some of these teams require and bring

together diverse skill sets.

Bottom-up – the insurer operates a system for uncovering, assessing and commercialising

innovative ideas from employees. Employees may be encouraged and incentivised to identify

potential solutions to problems, gain feedback, refine and then pitch them to, say, an innovation

council. Whilst cultural or strategic changes within an organisation must always be led from the top

down in order to be successful, this approach encourages contribution from the bottom-up. The

key strength of this governance structure is that it systematically creates a culture of creativity.

Case Study: ‘bottom-up’ innovation governance

Argo Group, a Bermuda-based speciality insurer, has an innovation framework designed

to marry creativity with execution:

• Bottom up – employees, who are closest to client problems, identify a problem

and pitch a solution. This is designed to facilitate creativity. In turn, senior

managers clear away obstacles to help employees realise their ideas and spur

execution.

• Software-enabled – employees add ideas to an online portal where they are

viewed, liked and commented on by 1,500 other Argo employees.

• Triaging – the innovation council evaluates popular ideas on the portal, which are

then operationalised, stored in a library or – for the big, transformational, ideas –

put forward to the so-called Shark Tank, which is a panel of Argo’s most senior

leaders.

“We are problem-led to avoid generic solutions that don’t fit the client problem.

We often need to reach to clients to understand their challenges and codify into

problem baskets to develop applicable solutons.”

Head of Incubation Underwriting, International Insurer

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Enhance data and models

The modelling of catastrophe risk has long been a mainstay of insurance underwriting, and has made a key

contribution to enhancing a wider understanding of physical climate risks. However, there is a need for

better quality data to support scaled product innovation. Where climate datasets do exist, they can often

be unstructured (e.g. in the form of text information), insufficiently granular, or created for other purposes,

such as academic research, and therefore not immediately translatable to be applied to the insurance

problem in question.

Effective modelling of physical risk is vital to furthering the transition. Nevertheless, uncertainty around the

future path of climate change and its impacts renders many standard approaches to modelling, which

assume a relatively static distribution of extreme event occurrences, redundant. In order to address this,

new approaches are being developed, such as conditioning catastrophe models to look at the differences in

loss between different climate scenarios. As noted in the 2020 Weather, Climate & Catastrophe Insights

report published by Aon, “these forward-looking, probabilistic models help companies make strategic and

risk management decisions under complex and changing environmental conditions”

The industry is also experiencing wider data challenges where data is not accessible, not in a usable format,

not machine readable, lacking in any standardisation or common structure. Icebreaker One’s SERI

programme seeks to bridge the data gaps between finance and climate change. SERI’s goal is to create a

detailed data governance framework that can open up the potential of sector-wide data sharing in

insurance, enabling the development of climate-ready financial products

. Emerging technoloy and data

paradigms can help the industry to address these data challenges:

New sources of data – Use new sources of data to sharpen underwriting. This applies to risks caused by

climate change (e.g. insuring a house against a wildfire caused by rising temperatures) as well as those

unrelated to climate change that threaten the net zero transition (e.g. machinery breakdown cover for a

biomass power plant). Networks of sensors and devices connected to the internet, also known as the

Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to capture real-time local data on risks, forming one of the most

important, yet under-developed, sources of data (see case study below). Finally, a growing proliferation of

financial disclosure requirements from regulators can be a potentially useful source of company climate risk

data. Examples include the UK’s introduction of mandatory TCFD reporting across all sectors of the

economy, beginning in 2022, and the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive.

Case Study: Using the Internet of Things to insure the transition

Hemp is an important crop for addressing climate change. It is a low-carbon construction material,

which also functions as a store for atmospheric carbon dioxide.

IoT-based solutions can capture the data underpinning development of innovative insurance

products for the hemp industry. For example, InsurTech Hailios placed sensors around a hemp

farm to gather local risk data, which were augmented with radar analysis. Descartes Underwriting

used the data to build a parametric insurance product (see case study on parametric insurance)

tailored to the farm. Without the sensor data, this would not have been possible.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Better structured data systems – Combat unstructured and siloed data with digital technologies. A range of

powerful new digital technologies are unlocking the value in unstructured data. For example, natural

language processing (NLP) can be used to automate processing and analysis of large volumes of policy

wordings. Insurers can also use cloud-based solutions to connect disparate data silos.

More advanced analytics – Use digital technologies to develop more sophisticated analytics. For example,

artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) can be used to model climate-related risks on a far more

granular and accurate basis than in the past (see case study).

Upskill functions with a deeper technical

understanding of climate risks and opportunities

Collaboration with technical experts from academia and industry can help insurers to stay on the cutting

edge of technology without having to hire expensive talent with a deep yet narrow skill set. There is an

opportunity for more formalised consortiums of groups of insurance experts that combine broader skill sets

such as R&D, technology experts and science. This can help the insurance industry learn more about

emerging technologies and leverage expertise in a faster manner.

Case Study:

using technical underwriting to grow green technology insurance

Munich Re has a three-pronged approach to technical underwriting of solar power plants:

• Academic partnerships – Work with academic partners including the Fraunhofer

network of 72 research institutions throughout Germany;

• Industrial partnerships – Examine the manufacturing of solar plant components,

including via site visits; and

• In-house co-operation – Collaborate with technical experts across Munich Re.

Munich Re’s technical expertise on solar technology is enabling the reinsurer to provide high-

value risk consulting services to clients. The reinsurer provides recommendations for

improvements in the solar manufacturing process to around three-quarters of clients, many of

which are implemented.

“Predictive models are a game changer for pricing of risk”

Head of Innovation, International Insurer

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Innovate product structures

Innovative product structures can help to overcome some of these fundamental challenges around insuring

climate-related losses and incentivising capital flows towards emerging green technology:

Parametric insurance – This type of cover pays out when an event takes place, based on a pre-defined

range of parameters that are often measured by an index created for this purpose. Parametric solutions are

rapidly gaining in recognition for their ability to model and respond to potential losses caused by climate

change. They can be cheaper and faster than traditional insurance, as there is no need to assess damage

before a claim can be paid. Insurers can also construct indices for addressing specific event types, enabling

them to avoid potential climate-risk protection gaps arising from a lack of data on past losses (see case

study on parametric insurance for a coral reef).

Moreover, parametric products can greatly expand the pool of capital available to protect against climate

risks by tapping capital markets. A growing number of institutional investors are investing in catastrophe

bonds designed around parametric triggers. Such products are relatively easy to understand and relatively

transparent, compared with the two main types of trigger for traditional catastrophe bonds, which are

based on claims for a (re)insurance company or claims for the (re)insurance industry.

Double triggers – Insurers can design products with ‘double triggers’ that help lower the cost of capital for

green technology projects (see case study in box below). In a double trigger, the limit, premium or

retention is linked to an event outside of the insured hazard.

Case Study: Parametric coral reef insurance in Quintana Roo, Mexico

The coverage, designed by Swiss Re, uses a parametric structure: pay-outs are triggered when wind

speeds reach a pre-determined index level. If this happens, funds are paid quickly for debris removal,

initial repairs and to repair the reef by planting new corals.

“Everything in the offshore wind market is prototypical, which makes it difficult for

insurers as they use past data for predictions. There have been hundreds of claims,

which means that learning is expensive and insurers might become less keen to

stimulate development [in this market].”

Head of Commercial Risk, Broker

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Usage-based – Insurers can reduce the cost of insurance for green technology by charging on a usage basis.

This can be applied across any sectors in which there is an element of seasonal fluctuation in the use of

technology. For example, farmers are increasingly using drones on a seasonal basis to reduce waste (e.g.

crop monitoring). Insurers can create products that charge based on drone usage (e.g. by duration of flying

time) rather than on an annual basis, which is more expensive for such infrequent usage.

Incorporate the management of climate risk in

commercial priorities

Insurers can stimulate customer demand in a variety of ways. The most powerful tool in our view, is to

build products that align clients’ commercial priorities with fighting climate change, and therefore

incentivise clients towards net zero-enabling commercial strategies.

Insurers are developing products that have the potential to reduce costs as well as protecting clients from

climate-related risks (see case study in box below), whilst also providing added commercial incentives to

close the climate-risk protection gap. Nonetheless, there are few existing examples of this type of cover,

and penetration is low, with much scope for additional development.

Case Study: Solar panel warranty insurance with a double trigger

Solar panel makers issue performance warranties on their panels. These are contracts to pay the

user of a solar panel (e.g. a solar farm) in the event of non-performance of a panel (e.g. faulty

manufacturing, defects or excessive aging). Munich Re has created a product that protects both

parties to a solar panel performance warranty:

• Panel maker – Insured against the risk of making ‘excessive’ payments under its

performance warranties.

• Farm – Insured against the risk that the solar panel maker cannot pay under warranty

because it is insolvent.

The insurance is based on a double trigger: claims are paid either in the event of excessive payments

by the manufacturer or in the event of the manufacturer’s insolvency, in which case the insurance is

transferred to the solar farm. Farms that buy panels from manufacturers with this type of insurance

can also benefit from lower costs of capital.

Case Study: products that save energy and respond to climate change

Shepherd Analytics harvests data on building energy consumption from sources such as building

management systems, utility bills and wireless sensors connected to gas and electricity supplies. The

InsurTech uses this data to model losses associated with energy use, such as fire, and provide risk

prevention insight. It is working with insurers and their insureds to reduce claims. This insight can

also be used to reduce insured’s operating costs (by up to 25%) and carbon footprints, providing

multiple benefits.

Climate product innovation within the insurance sector

Approaches to aligning clients’ climate and commercial priorities with insurance solutions:

Bundling – Some insurers are growing their risk engineering capabilities, a solution long offered by brokers.

These may include data, tools and insights that can help clients make more informed decisions on risk

management strategies, for example, reviewing cargo flows to reduce idle time in transport.

Action: Recommendations that integrate climate benefits should be clearly demarcated, with respect to

both emissions reduction and climate adaptation. This can help increase clients’ understanding of climate-

related risks, incentivising them to act. It can also highlight challenges that underwriters may need to

address when low carbon technologies are seen to increase other types of risk, such as fire risk associated

with cross-laminated timber commercial buildings, or hail risk associated with roof-mounted solar PV

panels.

Client and distribution channels – Insurers may be targeting the wrong economic buyers or missing critical

influencers who can stimulate demand for innovative climate-aligned products. This can involve targeting

the investor rather than the owner or operator of an asset or bundling insurance solutions with investment

capital. For example, the industry has developed a range of solutions that facilitate early-stage financing of

green technology (see Munich Re case study on solar panel warranty insurance with a double trigger on

page 21). These solutions benefit the venture capital community in addition to the policyholder. Insurers

can therefore go to market via the investor community, a relatively under-developed channel, or

potentially bundle insurance with tranches of investor capital.

Actions and next steps

Insurance solutions are a key enabler for the transition to a net zero economy. They can open up access to

contingent capital that gives customers, clients, and investors the confidence to take the necessary steps

needed to decarbonise our economies. To successfully develop and scale a broader range of innovative,

climate-aligned insurance solutions and products, we have identified three key actions for the insurance

industry:

1. Build relationships with clients and understand the barriers they experience in extracting maximum value

from the current range of products, as well as the associated problems they are experiencing along their

own value chain.

2. Encourage internal experimentation and market collaboration, with the aim of innovating around the

client’s value chain. This may involve closing coverage gaps through adapting existing products, creating

new products, or increasing understanding through risk advisory and consultancy services. Insurers should

recognise that they may not be the right provider for every area, and partner with third-party service

providers and academic groups where appropriate

3. Incentivise action through targets and training, and support this with upskilling within the firm, and

embracing science-based insight.

Insurers have risen to numerous challenges as new technologies and business models have emerged over

time, though the pace of change has never been so fast nor the need so critical. The time to act is now.

 
32 
 
Climate product innovation within the insurance sector 
 
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