Scor withdraws from Net-Zero Insurance Alliance
New strategic plan based on maximising the Paris-based group’s economic value and developing the group’s business model to increase competitiveness
Chief executive, Thierry Léger, announced the move at the reinsurer’s annual general meeting today as he outlined a new strategic plan and made commitments relating to climate change and energy transition
Scor has become the latest re/insurer to withdraw from the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA).
The Paris-based reinsurer’s new chief executive, Thierry Léger, announced the move at the company’s annual general meeting today, when he presented the outline of the group's new strategic plan for 2024 to 2026.
The new plan, which will be presented in detail at Scor's investor day on September 7, 2023, will be based on maximising the group’s economic value and developing the group’s business model to increase its competitiveness.
In property and casualty business, Scor will take "full advantage" of the reinsurance cycle to improve its risk profile and "maximize value creation", Léger said. In addition, the company will seek to "fully leverage its life and health reinsurance platform to generate attractive and stable cashflows".
Scor will also evolve its business model through centralized retrocession and data.
At the same time, Léger unveiled new commitments relating to climate change and energy transition, including new underwriting policies on gas, oil sands and coal.
Scor will exclude direct insurance and facultative reinsurance coverage for new gas field development projects and thermal coal mining infrastructure, Léger said.
The company will also no longer provide any new or expanded standalone direct insurance and facultative reinsurance coverage for oils sands operations.
Scor follows Swiss Re, Hannover Re, Zurich Insurance Group and Munich Re, which have announced their departures from the NZIA in recent weeks.
A spokesperson for Scor declined to provide any further comment on the company’s decision to exit the climate initiative.
Launched in July 2021, NZIA members committed to transition their re/insurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
But the alliance has been dogged by antitrust concerns, leading to some members to prefer working independently.
These concerns have followed opposition to the NZIA and other environmental, social and governance initiatives by US lawmakers.
A consortium of Republican state attorneys general wrote to members of the NZIA, questioning the legality of their commitments to collaborate with other insurers and asset owners to “advance an activist climate agenda”.
When it announced its departure from the NZIA, Munich Re said there were few opportunities for insurers to work towards decarbonisation collectively without exposure to antitrust risk and the global reinsurer could act more effectively independently.
Zurich said after establishing a standardised methodology for measuring and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions associated to insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios, the group wanted to focus its resources to support customers with their transition.
Hannover Re also said it remains committed to its sustainability strategy, the associated goals and its support for the Paris agreement, adding it aims to achieve full climate neutrality by 2050 “at the latest”.
