Farmers Insurance Exchange Becomes First Insurer in US to Sign the United Nations Principles for Sustainable Insurance
Farmers Insurance Exchange said it was the first U.S. insurance company to sign on to the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative's Principles for Sustainable Insurance. The Principles are an international framework for the global insurance industry to deal with environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities.
Farmers joins nearly 200 organisations worldwide that have publicly committed to the Principles since they were adopted at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
"Farmers is committed to operating in a way that positively impacts our customers, our employees and communities by incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into our business," said Jeff Dailey, Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Group, Inc. "We are honoured to become the first U.S.–based insurer to sign the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) and hope to amplify the impact of our efforts by inspiring others in the insurance industry to follow our example."
Signatories to the Principles are called to:
- Embed environmental, social and governance issues relevant to the insurance business into decision-making;
- Commit to working with clients and business partners to raise awareness of environmental, social and governance issues, manage risk and develop solutions;
- Agree to work with governments, regulators and other key stakeholders to promote widespread action across society on environmental, social and governance issues; and,
- Demonstrate accountability and transparency in regularly publicly disclosing progress in implementing the Principles.
Farmers has been working on several ESG issues for a while. These include making socially responsible investments in traditionally underserved communities through IMPACT Community Capital, investing in an NGO-led fund that helps homeowners recover faster from disasters, switching to a fully hybrid and electric fleet of company vehicles, reducing its carbon footprint through paperless billing processes, and embracing improved options for employees.
Farmers plans to expand on its current efforts to make more substantial contributions that will benefit its customers, employees, agents, and the globe through this expanded engagement with the Principles.
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative's (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance serves as a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities.
The programme envisions a risk-aware world in which the insurance business is trusted and fully contributes to enabling a healthy, safe, resilient, and sustainable society. The Initiative's goal is to improve understanding, prevention, and reduction of environmental, social, and governance risks and manage opportunities to provide quality and reliable risk protection.
"Through its commitment to implement the Principles for Sustainable Insurance, Farmers Insurance Exchange is demonstrating leadership, raising its ambition, and engaging with key stakeholders to tackle the most pressing sustainability challenges and to seize the opportunities of a sustainable economy," said Butch Bacani, who leads the PSI at the U.N. Environment Programme. "We look forward to more U.S. insurers joining the PSI and becoming part of the solution. The time for decisive sustainability action is now."
Source: PRNewswire
