Insurance brokers have been found to be lacking urgency and interest in the transition to net zero according to a recent survey conducted by specialist insurer Ecclesiastical.
In its second annual survey of brokers’ attitudes to net zero, the number of broker firms that have set a net-zero target has risen slightly since last year but apathy remains particularly among smaller firms.
Thirty-nine percent of national brokers who were surveyed have set a target, up 1% y-o-y, while just 10% of regional brokers (up 5%) and 4% (up 2%) of provincial brokers have made a net zero commitment.
For the second year running, the main barrier to setting a target is that brokers do not have the resources to focus on net zero (51%).
This year’s survey saw an increase in the number of brokers who said their firm has no interest in being net zero, from 21% to 27%. This rose to 31% among provincial brokers but was not a sentiment shared by national brokers. There was also a big increase in firms saying they are too small for net zero to concern them, rising from 3% to 12%.
The survey did reveal some positive news with nearly three quarters of brokers agreeing that reducing their firm’s climate impact is the right thing to do for the environment.
Two in five (41%) said their company is more aware of climate issues than 12 months ago. And the results also show a small increase in brokers measuring their carbon footprint.
Reducing energy consumption at offices (51%) overtook reducing business travel (42%) as the most popular step to reduce climate impacts, most likely in response to the challenging economic environment. Other popular measures include increasing awareness among employees (30%) and switching to sustainable suppliers (19%).
The survey saw an increase in the number of brokers saying it was important to reduce their climate impact to keep costs down, while a quarter agreed their company was less likely to adopt climate reduction measures due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Ecclesiastical commercial director Adrian Saunders said, “These results show brokers are sleepwalking into the climate crisis despite the urgent need for all industries to transition to net zero.” M