Sustainability
In January 2021 we were proud to publish our Climate Change Statement, setting out a number of ways in which we would commit as an organisation to expressing our support for the aim of the Paris Agreement. Over the last year we have been proactive in pushing forward on our commitments.
Pathways to sustainability
Sustainability and climate change have been high on our agenda for a number of years now (we issued our first Risk Alert back in 2017). Since then, our work in this area has gathered pace and now sits across all aspects of our organisation. We know sustainability is a topic that is not only close to our members’ hearts personally, but also central to their work as financial risk experts.
In 2021 we launched our Sustainability Hub, bringing together the different strands of our work and giving members a dedicated ‘one-stop shop’ on our website where they can find information.
Called ‘Pathways to sustainability’ the hub collates our various initiatives regarding sustainability and climate change, from our policy papers to our sustainability lifelong learning page.
The road to Glasgow
After a year-long postponement due to the pandemic, the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, was held in Glasgow in November 2021.
In recognition of the significance of this event, and as part of our Thought Leadership programme, we hosted a series of webinars in the run up to COP26, entitled ‘The road to Glasgow’. The series showcased a range of experts, including Professor Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate
Change and Development in Bangladesh, and Penny Endersby, Chief Executive of the Met Office, as well as the profession’s own thought leaders.
The webinars explored a range of important sustainability and climate-related issues, from the implications of the climate crisis for insurance and investment, to the global role of actuaries and the importance of biodiversity.
7 webinars delivered
1,000+ attendees across the series
Average event audience: 144
Attendees from 41 countries
21 speakers including academics, politicians, climate activists, investment/insurance specialists, plus thought leaders from within the profession, including many non-UK based members
Attending COP26
The IFoA was delighted to be admitted to COP26 as an observer organisation. Our Policy Team attended, engaging with numerous other organisations to collaborate on areas of mutual interest.
Following COP26 we have spent time developing these relationships. This has included meetings with the Bank of England on its Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario exercise, and with the British Standards Institution on sustainability standards.
We stepped up our commitments by signing the Professional Bodies Climate Action Charter.
We also engaged with IFoA members to write two blogs immediately following COP – one on COP26 Finance Day and the other on what COP26 might mean for the IFoA and the actuarial profession.
Our approach to net zero
We recognise that environmental issues are fundamental to a responsible business strategy. We are committed to adopting sustainable business practices for the benefit of society and to secure the future of the planet.
We are developing and implementing a plan to be operationally net zero by 2030, and during 2021/22 we initiated our Net Zero project to identify and assess our greenhouse gas emissions. We will report periodically to our Council and Management Board on our progress towards this commitment.
We also received a report, Climate-related risk at the IFoA, from the task force to Council. This presented a series of recommendations, with the goal of ensuring that our members understand and consider climate-related risk in the same way as other major risks. We adopted the report’s goal and accepted its recommendations.
Our new Climate Risk and Sustainability course
Climate-related risks are likely to have a material impact on many aspects of actuarial work – which is why there’s an increasing demand from company boards, regulators and other key stakeholders looking to understand these impacts. Feedback from our members has also indicated a growing need for them to have access to more educational materials about climate change and the impact on actuarial work.
To meet these demands we developed a new Climate Risk and Sustainability course during 2021, pulling together information from a range of different areas.
The course takes members from an introduction to the science of climate change through to modules on different areas of actuarial work, such as modelling, strategy, communications and regulation.
Our Climate Risk and Sustainability course was developed with a core team of volunteer members from a range of different actuarial practice areas. A number of additional members also helped by developing course materials, providing feedback and taking part in a pilot.
