ESG in insurance – solutions with sustainable impact

Here today, gone tomorrow: income can be a fragile thing, especially if a household is hit by disability or another severe reason. Only one in three people have insurance to protect themselves from critical illness, disability or worse.

Zurich conducted research in eleven countries on four continents to find out how aware people are of this risk, why and how they seek to protect themselves, or don’t, and the role of the state and the employer in dealing with this global challenge. Read more

Zurich covers many renewable energy construction projects around the world. For example, Zurich insured ’Desert Sunlight’, the building of one of the a largest solar power projects in California, ‘Xina Solar One’ in South Africa, and Ashalim in solar thermal power plant in Israel.

Desert Sunlight is one of the largest photovoltaic solar farms in North America, and Zurich was the lead insurer providing builder’s risk coverage. The farm converts sunlight to electricity, providing enough clean, affordable energy to power approximately 160,000 California homes and displace 300,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year - equivalent to taking 60,000 cars off the road

Zurich also insures Xina Solar One in South Africa and the Ashalim solar thermal power plant in Israel. Xina One, when complete, will produce enough energy to serve more than 90,000 households, avoiding the emission of more than 398,000 tons of CO2 per year when compared to a natural-gas plant. The Ashalim thermo-solar plant will join a similar 121-megawatt facility already under construction at Ashalim and is expected to be the biggest of its kind in the world. When complete, this plant will supply approximately 120,000 homes with cleaner electricity, avoiding 110,000 tons per year of CO2 emissions.

In Italy, Germany and Switzerland, Zurich provides customized coverage for private home owners and small to mid-size commercial companies to build renewable energy facilities, such as photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass and geothermal installations.

Our Renewable Energy Generating Equipment policy covers loss of renewable energy generating equipment that a customer owns or operates.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) liability insurance

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) is the process of capturing carbon from a waste stream, compressing it into a liquid, and storing it in geological foundations thousands of feet below the surface. The CCS liability policy covers loss associated with Carbon Capture and Sequestration operations.

Z Choice Pollution liability insurance

This policy covers loss associated with an existing or new pollution event and includes an embedded Green Remediation supplementary payment. Green remediation includes the increase in costs for following standards, products, methods and processes for improving the environment, increasing energy efficiency and enhancing safety and property protection. This also includes the increase in costs attributable to apply green techniques which operate to minimize waste generation, reduce energy consumption, or conserve natural resources in the execution of a clean-up.

We have introduced electric vehicle insurance propositions in Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Austria and Portugal. These are among the first customized electric vehicle insurance products globally and they support the move toward more environmentally-friendly transportation. In Germany, Zurich provides award-winning additional accidental damage cover for batteries used in electric cars, commercial electric vehicles, and electric motor bikes. In Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Austria and Portugal, Zurich offers insurance discounts for these vehicles. In Ireland, Spain, Germany Austria and Portugal, Zurich also innovatively addresses the fear of running out of electricity mid-journey by providing tailored breakdown assistance for our private electric car customers. This involves Zurich committing to tow customers' electric cars at no extra cost to the nearest recharging station in the event that they run out of charge.

Everything we do is aimed at protecting our customers; their people, their property and their profit. By understanding risk across many industries and customer segments, we help reduce risk and mitigate loss. All of this provides sustainability for our customers in three key areas:

	Environmental Through our philosophy, approach, products and services, Zurich Risk Engineering provides environmental sustainability by: Helping prevent losses that may otherwise harm the environment, such as serious fires and pollution. If things go wrong, through our proactive risk improvement action management programs, we help mitigate losses and reduce their environmental impact. Supporting customers with new build projects suggesting the latest safety design features and use of sustainable materials. Sharing our expertise and contributing to global thinking to mitigate risks around flood, storm and earthquake.
	Social Zurich Risk Engineering provides social sustainability by: Keeping people safe, by preventing accidents and illness in the workplace. This has a societal impact in that we keep people working and reduce health service costs. Ensuring the longevity and profitability of business organisations, securing jobs and the livelihoods of local communities. By proactively managing risk for our customers we give them the confidence to expand into new products, service areas and markets. As well as maintaining financial integrity, we also help to protect brand and reputation.
	Governance Zurich Risk Engineering provides governance sustainability by: “Zurich Recognised Solution” - By sharing best practice we help our customers to be legally compliant with local law and regulations. We support our customers’ efforts around corporate governance reporting and fully understanding their responsibilities. Our highly skilled technical personal often give input to both regional and global safety standards such as fire safety and business continuity. We help keep companies operational, maintaining jobs and hence paying government tax income.

Zurich offers products and services according to local custom, need and local business strategy.

Zurich reaches first time insurance buyers every day with products sold in Latin America through retailers, utility companies and financial institutions.

Basic Ability: Zurich offers Basic Ability, its affordable income protection product, to consumers who might have otherwise find it difficult to purchase such coverage, eg. craftsmen; employees engaged in significant physical work; self-employed people; young people; elderly people. These products are available in Austria, Spain, Italy, Germany and Latin America.

TrueLady: Flexible protection and savings plan for today's women, at every stage in life. Read more

Blue Marble Microinsurance: Zurich insurance Group is one of the founding members of Blue Marble Microinsurance, a consortium of nine companies collaborating to innovate solutions that protect the underserved. Read more

Zurich Switzerland has developed a user-friendly online tool to allow people to detect risks to property from floods, landslides, mud and rock slides. Read more

The following are examples of how Zurich is supporting local communities through its products.

• Savings product in Spain: Zurich's Joint Venture with Banco Sabadell in Spain markets a product that guarantees an amount of savings for children, so they can fulfill their plans. This product cedes a 0.7% to the NGO “Manos Unidas” for projects related to child development.
• Super Auto Insurance in Japan: Every time a customer purchases Zurich's Super Auto Insurance policy which is eligible for eco-car discount through Rakuten's mobile site, Zurich GI Japan and Rakuten, each contribute ¥1,000 to support Friends of the Earth’s "Gift from the Forest" program
• Medical expenses insurance in Mexico: In 2016, Zurich Santander Mexico made a donation to Fundación Mark (a children's cancer charity) as result of the sales from "Protección Médica Mujer" Insurance policies.
• Pension fund in Spain: In a joint venture with Banco Sabadell Zurich offers a pension fund developed with Intermon-Oxfam, investing using ethical and social criteria. A percentage of the accumulated volumes is ceded to Intermon Oxfam