The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) is refocusing efforts on environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) issues to ensure the marine insurance sector and its clients are better prepared to deal with their impact.
IUMI president Richard Turner said ESG issues are impacting all forms of business, including marine insurance, which is set to be affected in three ways:
- Climate change and the related rise in sea levels will impact the frequency and severity of claims;
- Transport assets and cargoes IUMI members insure will evolve significantly, and that is already being seen as the marine industry adopts low-sulphur fuels; and
- The sustainability of marine insurers’ clients and the industries in which they operate.
Mr Turner said, “It is becoming increasingly clear that some industries will have the opportunity to grow and develop while others will shrink as the world moves to a more sustainable footing. As an industry, we need to recognise these changes and adapt.”
IUMI is raising awareness of these issues to ensure the marine insurance sector is better prepared to respond adequately. It is ‘actively lobbying’ to raise relevant issues, monitor response and ‘agitate for change’.
Many issues already on IUMI’s policy agenda have a sustainability impact, including arctic sailing and low-sulphur fuels.
Mr Turner said, “Building on a comprehensive member survey conducted more than a year ago, we are continuing our advocacy activity on a number of key issues. This has led to the formation of a sub-committee of IUMI’s executive committee to focus specifically on ESG issues. In addition, we are proud to be a supporting institution of the UN’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance.”
ESG issues will be an important focus area at IUMI’s 2021 annual conference, which will be held virtually from Seoul, Korea in September this year. Its theme is ‘Pathways to a sustainable, resilient and innovative future’.
The virtual annual conference will discuss the various options and pathways that marine insurance should pursue to ensure sustainability, both in terms of ESG issues but also to maintain marine underwriting as a healthy and resilient activity. M
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