Together we kept sustainability on the agenda
Climate change and sustainability are subjects close to our members’ hearts – and have been for a number of years.
Over the last few years though, our members have stepped up the pace as they have sought to inform and influence the debate – both within and outside the profession.
The road to Glasgow
The UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, was finally held in Glasgow in November 2021, after a year-long postponement due to the pandemic.
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’.
Chaired by IFoA President Louise Pryor, the series showcased the profession’s own thought leaders and a number of expert speakers on 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, the path to net zero and the importance of biodiversity, the series featured discussions across topics relevant to the work of actuaries.
webinars delivered
attendees across the series
average event audience
Attendees from
countries
speakers, including academics, politicians/civil servants/parliamentary staff, climate activists, investment/insurance specialists, plus thought leaders from within the profession (including many non-UK based members).
Bank of England at the IFoA Conference
The Bank of England’s Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario (CBES) explores the financial risks posed by climate change that might unfold over a timescale of 30 years or more, and the potential impact for the largest UK banks and insurers.
At our June Conference, we were privileged to have three members from the Bank of England speak on their insights from their latest CBES, which examined the industry’s resilience to those risks, how the industry might respond, and the possible impact of this response to the wider economy.
New credentials
Over the last few years, we have developed three new courses that have all been member driven – in Climate Change, Banking and Data Science.
As the future of work evolves, new skillsets will be required to embrace this new era and to maintain an edge and relevancy in this new world. That’s why it’s important to the future of the profession that we continue to develop and enhance our career-long learning offering to our membership.
Our members have been integral to the development of these new courses, in particular our new Climate Risk and Sustainability course. Partnership working between the IFoA and members meant that our volunteers were able to use their actuarial knowledge and skills to present climate-change topics in a way that is relevant to our membership. Our volunteers came from different actuarial backgrounds, but all had a common interest in climate risk and sustainability. From helping us to develop course materials and draft content to taking part in pilots and providing feedback, our members’ involvement has been integral to helping us ensure that our career-long learning offering remains core to what we do.
Their contribution was recognised in a Presidential Award by the Immediate Past President, Louise Pryor.
Climate Risk and Sustainability course
- Introduced in March 2022
- Designed and curated by members
- Three cohorts planned for 2022
- Doubled the number of attendees for the second cohort and arranging to scale for future
- Online – global attendance
- Members learning from members
- 84 members have passed the Climate Risk and Sustainability course, to date
Banking
- New area of learning, expanding the current curriculum
- Partnered with ASSA, another actuarial society
- Allows members with an interest in banking to take the exam regardless of location, as the exam is internationally focused
Certificate in Data Science
- Partnership with Southampton Data Science Academy began in April 2020
- 571 members have registered for the programme
- 83% have passed and been awarded the certificate
- Over 40% of the members are based outside the UK
Biodiversity report
In 2021 Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee published its report, Biodiversity in the UK: bloom or bust.
We were very proud to see that the IFoA was quoted no less than 13 times in this important report, and referenced 21 times in total, highlighting the impact the voice of the profession can have on this important subject.
This was another demonstration of the value of partnership working. IFoA colleagues worked with the Sustainability Board to provide evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) to inform the report.
When meeting with the EAC, it became apparent that there was a role for the IFoA to play in helping organisations, and society more widely, to understand the economics of biodiversity and the financial risks that can arise from it. Our Biodiversity Working Party, established in 2020, is already developing its work in this area and is considering the urgent role for actuaries, and the wider financial sector, in addressing the risks of biodiversity loss. We have already received feedback from the Prudential Regulation Authority that they are very interested in learning from our work in this space, as they consider it an area we are leading on.
Sustainability blogs
From interviews to book reviews, reflections on the hot weather to the need for global collaboration to achieve net zero, our members kept their fellow actuaries aware and apprised so that they could remain at the cutting edge of the sustainability conversation.
JFAR document
Next page: Together we made diversity, equity and inclusion a priority