Pieter van Dusseldorp is manager of Sustainable Finance at Deloitte. During the webinar Nature and biodiversity loss for non-life insurers that the Association organised last month, he set 'a dot on the horizon'. "If we want to limit the loss of biodiversity, insurers must focus more on nature-positive insurance."
Ecosystem
Van Dusseldorp started his contribution with a sheet on the ecosystem of climate, nature and people/companies. "Those three form a triangular relationship, as it were. They influence each other back and forth. For example, people/companies have an impact on nature, but they are also dependent on it. We need nature just to breathe, but of course companies and their (non-life) insurers are also dependent. Just think of the raw materials to make medicines."
Dependence
He drew a comparison with a vicious circle. "If the climate changes, it will have consequences for nature. And vice versa. Climate change is now high on the agenda, among companies and politicians, but that is not yet the case for nature."
According to Van Dusseldorp, we are still insufficiently aware of our dependence on nature. "What you do today has no impact tomorrow. If you remove a forest now, I can still breathe. But in the end, of course, things will go wrong. Moreover, we are much more dependent on nature than we think."
LEAP method
He did not say it in so many words, but Van Dusseldorp is happy with all the actions that promote awareness. For example, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures has developed a series of recommendations and guidelines that companies can use to get started. "That certainly helps. We now see that many financial institutions, including insurers, use the so-called LEAP approach: Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare. Because let's face it, just like with climate change, replacing plastic cups is of course not enough. If an insurer really wants to have an impact, it must do so through its customers."
"Collaboration is necessary to provide insight into the impact, but also the opportunities and risks"
Sustainable recovery
The LEAP methodology can help an insurer gain insight into the impact it is aiming for. Van Dusseldorp: "If you have a huge impact on water, but your activities take place in the desert, you can guess what happens."
He almost compared himself to a real estate agent ("location is so incredibly important"), but also emphasised that the location is not the only thing. "Especially for non-life insurers, they can have a lot of impact in the chain. They often work together with damage repairers who can make a difference with the colour and type of paint alone. That is why it is great that the Association with chain partners (NIVRE and Schoonmakend Nederland) has concluded a manifesto to repair damage more sustainably. Collaboration is needed to provide insight into the impact, but also the opportunities and risks."
80-20 rule
Van Dusseldorp's message is clear: just start. "Start and filter on the impact sectors you have. Then you can look at the Natura 2000 areas: are they near you? I always recommend using the 80-20 rule. Not because that twenty percent is not interesting, but it is nice to tackle the bulk first. From there, you can take the other steps and determine your risks and opportunities, among other things. Ultimately, at Prepare , you can put your objectives and strategy on paper. Exciting, because you pin yourself down to something, but to be honest, the first steps (Locate & Evaluate) are not easy either."
Challenge
One of the biggest challenges insurers face is making choices, Van Dusseldorp concluded. "Make it clear what you can and cannot do. You can't do everything at once and it is also an iterative process, in which you have to choose. It is not immediately about nature-positive insurance. That is a dot on the horizon for a reason. First, start by reducing the loss of biodiversity and go through the steps of the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. Prefer more info first? Then take a look at the website of the United Nations.
This was the last part in a series of articles on biodiversity for non-life insurers. In the first part , Christine Wortmann told the story of WWF and in part 2 , Harold Hendriks spoke on behalf of Univé.