The Geneva Association framework for climate change actions of insurers: a case study of Nordic insurers

Climate change is a major strategic issue for insurers, both as a risk and an opportunity. The Geneva Association1 has therefore urged insurers to move forward in integrating climate-related decisions and actions into day-to-day business, and a framework has been developed to assess insurersʹ climate change actions. This paper explores the Geneva Association framework for climate change actions in the context of Nordic non-life insurers. This is a four-level framework, ranging from inaction to integration. When the framework was introduced in 2009, the impression was that the insurance industry was reactive in its approach to integrating climate change into the core business. The framework was utilized at the Nordic Insurance Climate Conference in 2009, supporting the Geneva Association notion about the situation. The findings of this case study suggest a difference between two case groups: the Island companies (SMEs), including insurance companies operating in إland, Faroe Islands and Iceland, and Mainland companies operating in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Island companies are to a large extent inactive, while the Mainland companies are moving forward becoming developed in their approach to dealing with climate-related issues. Company size and outside drivers, including market and social drivers, are two of the factors that account for the difference between the case groups.