Products, services and investments to tackle climate change

The Unipol Group offers a range of insurance products and services to help customers reduce climate change and adapt to it.

For example, the following help in efforts to reduce climate change:

• products aimed at businesses that help towards the transition to a low emission economy such as the production of renewable energy (“Energia Sole” product);
• within the scope of motor policies, “Pay as you drive” rates which reduce premiums in accordance with the amount of kilometres travelled, indirectly contributing towards the reduction of climate changing gas emissions.

The Mobility ecosystem directly monitors and integrates the services that relate to the core business allowing the Group to offer new sustainable mobility opportunities.

The Group also plays increasing attention to reduction of the environmental impacts of its claims management process, for example through implementing circular economy processes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the extraction and use of raw materials.

With regard to the adaptation to climate change, various services have been developed to encourage the prevention of risks by customers such as the ‘Alert Meteo’ (weather) system developed on the basis of a prediction model that can forewarn customers of the risk of strong hailstorms.

Additionally, in line with the vision of the respective roles that public entities and insurance companies have to play to manage the increasing risks resulting from climate change set out in the position paper “Unipol for climate”, the Unipol Group designed and implemented two projects that aim to promote the innovative role that insurance can have to encourage adaptation to climate change by vulnerable parties through the implementation of partnerships with the public authorities.

These two projects (LIFE DERRIS e LIFE ADA) focus respectively on Italian small and medium-sized companies (that do not have the tools or knowledge needed to prevent and manage climate risks available) and the agricultural sector (to reinforce the ability to reduce climate change risk (current and future) in order to maintain the insurability of farmers in the long term, despite the increase in catastrophic and systemic risk).

The LIFE DERRIS project to support SMEs in the prevention and management of climate risks

The LIFE DERRIS project was started in 2015, the first European project to unite the public authorities, businesses and the insurance industry to reduce risks caused by extraordinary climate events. The project was coordinated by Unipol, along with partners ANCI, CINEAS, Città di Torino, Coordinamento Agende 21 Locali Italiane and Unipolsai.

The project goals were as follows:

• Test and implement innovative public-private partnership solutions between insurance, the public authorities and businesses to increase the resilience of local communities
• Encourage a greater risk culture through the organisation of training activities, transferring information from insurance industry to the public administration and SMEs
• Make adequate tools available to the SMEs for the prevention and management of climate risks

The project developed a simple, user-friendly tool (CRAM tool) which gives SMEs an opportunity to understand which risks they are exposed to in the event of extreme weather events, and what solutions could be applied by their companies to prevent damage.

Investments for the transition to net zero emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050

Aware of the fundamental role played by institutional investors in supporting the transition towards a low-carbon economy, the Unipol Group is fully engaged in contributing towards the achievement of the Paris Agreement targets.

In order to adequately monitor the impact of its investments on climate change, the Group measures, monitors and reports on defined parameters connected to the carbon print of its financial portfolio and evaluates future alignment with the Paris Agreement targets.

In order to consolidate its financial portfolio alignment process to a trajectory of reducing the increase in average global temperatures to about 1.5°C, the Unipol Group joined the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, thereby undertaking to reduce the emissions of its investment portfolios to zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and take action to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases through engagement of the investee companies, defining specific interim targets.

Unipol also has a specific unit dedicated to the selection and management of alternative investments that help tackle climate change, protect the environment and land, sea and freshwater ecosystems.