Talanx publishes fourth sustainability report and raises sustainability profile

“Sustainability is an important factor in our business activities as a global insurance group”, said Torsten Leue, Chairman of Talanx AG’s Board of Management. “Our goal is to implement a sustainable approach across all of our divisions and regions. Last year we focused on putting our investment portfolio – which totals more than EUR 100 billion – on a more sustainable basis. This year we adopted criteria for underwriting coal-based risks. This demonstrates our commitment to the process of transitioning to a lower-emissions economy and to implementing the goals set out in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which we have supported for years.”

Under its new underwriting policy for coal-based risks, the Talanx Group will no longer insure any risks for newly planned coal-fired power stations or coal mines as a matter of principle. Since coal can only be phased out responsibly in the medium to long term, the Group’s goal is to no longer have any coal-fired power stations or coal mines in its portfolio by 2038.

With respect to its investment activities, the Group is maintaining its existing policy of not making any new investments in companies that generate at least 25 percent of their revenues from fossil fuel sources. It is also continuing to systematically expand its investments in renewable energies and climate-friendly technologies and has already made direct investments of more than EUR 1.3 billion in the former category (wind and solar power).

“Our Group has a significant positive impact on the environment thanks to our investments and underwriting activities”, Leue added. “We take this responsibility seriously. At the same time, this is a marathon and not a sprint.”

The company also continued its integration of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the reporting period, prioritising five SDGs for itself in an internal workshop. For Talanx, the SDGs are an important way of connecting with the global sustainability agenda.

Another key milestone on this journey was a new stakeholder survey and materiality analysis that was performed in the autumn of 2018 and that captured a wide range of stakeholder viewpoints, both in Germany and abroad.

In addition, at an international level the Talanx Group implemented a large number of initiatives and measures in all action areas of its sustainability strategy in 2018. For example, its Italian subsidiary HDI Assicurazioni launched “Easy PIR”, an individual savings plan that invests in sustainable Italian companies and has the goal of medium- to long-term capital accumulation. HDI Seguros in Mexico is developing a CSR strategy that aims to actively link social and environment responsibility with its business activities, while the HDI Seguros company in Chile is implementing a comprehensive recycling management project. HDI Service AG’s headquarters in Hannover focused in depth on business ecology in the reporting period, obtaining certification as an “ÖKOPROFIT company” under the regional environmental consulting programme run by ÖKOPROFIT Hannover. ÖKOPROFIT is a pan-European program that covers businesses of all types and sizes, helping them to cut operating costs while simultaneously reducing their environmental footprint.