Sustainability

Europe’s sustainability agenda has been constructed to protect the future of Europe and the world, in the face of climate change and environmental degradation.

The European Commission published its European Green Deal in late 2019 as a blueprint to make the EU’s economy sustainable.

The plan demonstrates the EU’s ambition for Europe to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, under a new European Climate Law. It includes initiatives to mainstream sustainability across all EU policy including those which affect the financial sector, and move towards a clean, circular economy. A renewed sustainable finance strategy to support the creation of opportunities for citizens and financial institutions to have a positive impact on society and the environment forms part of the package.

Owned by their members/policyholders, mutual and cooperative insurers are socially committed and they act in a long-term orientated and sustainable manner. Being front runners in the fight against climate change, AMICE members are committed to the goals of creating a greener, fairer and more sustainable economy across the EU. Hence, AMICE broadly supports the ambition of the policy as it generally aligns with the sustainable business model embraced by mutual and cooperative insurers.

In February 2022, AMICE further demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by becoming a supporting institution for the United Nations Environment Programme Principles for Sustainable Insurance. It also launched a new sustainability body.

The areas covered:

Taxonomy: An EU classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activity.

Sustainability-related data, disclosures and reporting: Enhancing transparency on sustainability-related information.

Sustainability in investment advice: Amendment of IDD delegated acts to ensure that sustainability preferences are taken into account in the suitability assessment.

Sustainability in risk management: Incorporating sustainability factors within the prudential regulation.

EU Ecolabels and standards: Development of EU standards (such as the EU Green Bond Standard) and labels for sustainable financial products.

Sustainable corporate governance: Promoting corporate governance that is more conducive to sustainable investments.

Fostering long-term sustainable investment: Strengthening the foundations for sustainable investment by creating an enabling framework.