Talanx Group aims to cut carbon intensity of its liquid investment portfolio by 30 percent up to 2025

“Climate change is a serious threat and one that we, as an insurer, have to look at extremely closely in our risk modelling, investment policy, operations and underwriting, among other things. The challenge is to find the right balance between the interests of all our stakeholders” said Torsten Leue, Chairman of Talanx AG’s Board of Management. “We have underscored how seriously we take this by including sustainability aspects in our remuneration system.”

Increased investments in infrastructure and renewable energies

One milestone in Talanx’s sustainability activities is its new climate strategy for investments. As part of this, the Talanx Group has calculated the emissions in its investment portfolio for the first time. Its objective is to achieve a 30 percent reduction in the carbon intensity of its liquid portfolio by 2025 compared to the beginning of 2020. This is an important contribution to developing a sustainable, long-term path towards carbon neutrality by 2050 that is based on our commitment to the Paris agreement on climate change. In addition, the Talanx Group is supporting the transition towards green energy by making sustainable investments: it has already invested roughly EUR 3.7 billion in infrastructure, a good half of it in wind turbines. The objective is to lift this figure to EUR 5 billion.

The Talanx Group is ensuring the transparency of its investments through its membership of the “Principles for Responsible Investment” (PRI) initiative. This international investor network, which is supported by the United Nations, has drawn up six principles for responsible investing and has set itself the goal of promoting their implementation. This allows signatories to contribute to a more sustainable global financial system.

In the underwriting area, the focus is on continuing to expand the Group’s ESG approach. These three dimensions of sustainability – the environment (E), social issues (S) and governance (G) – are the yardstick by which underwriting is measured. Talanx is continuously expanding this approach and, in particular, is also applying the four Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI). The Group has set itself a far-reaching goal for this area, too: it is aiming to exit business models based on coal and on oil and tar sands by 2038. Other fossil fuels are being monitored closely and the companies in the Talanx Group are adjusting their underwriting policy in line with the risks involved, taking all relevant factors into account. In addition, the Group intends to be one of the leading insurers in the renewable energy area.

Talanx’s sixth sustainability report, which was published today, is the first one to reference the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In addition, the Group signed up to the UN Global Compact – the world’s largest initiative for responsible corporate governance – in May 2020. Consequently, the sustainability report also provides information on the implementation status for the Global Compact’s Ten Principles, which cover the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption. In line with this, the position of a Diversity & Inclusion Manager has been created in the current financial year. Her task is to develop and implement a Group-wide diversity strategy.

Global climate-neutral operations by 2030

One core goal of Talanx’s sustainability strategy up to 2030 at the latest is to ensure climate-neutral operations throughout the Group. The Group is working consistently towards this at present. Germany – home to more than 45 percent of Talanx’s workforce – has already achieved it.

In addition to a large number of Group companies around the world – in Germany, the USA, Mexico, Turkey and many other states – Talanx’s sixth sustainability report now also includes its companies in the United Kingdom, Hungary and Switzerland. As a result, the report now covers nearly 600 further employees and an additional gross premium volume of more than EUR 500 million. All in all, the report now covers roughly 82 percent of the Talanx Group’s gross premiums in the area of primary insurance and roughly 79 percent of its workforce.

Sustainability Report 2020 of the Talanx Group