Allianz board member Günther Thallinger has joined the UN’s new advisory council on accelerating climate action.
A statement from the insurance giant said that Thallinger has become one of sixteen experts on the High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities (HLEG). HLEG will report directly to the UN Secretary General and provide recommendations for standardising the criteria around defining and implementing net-zero pledges. Its focus will be on the role of non-state actors in reversing climate change.
Thallinger said: “I am honoured to have been appointed to such an important task. It will be a great opportunity to work with such a distinguished group of experts who share a sense of urgency to act on decarbonisation.”
Already serving as chair of the group’s ESG board, Thallinger has been vocal in the debate over climate change and the industry. In January, he was the spokesperson for Allianz when it committed to a further set of climate targets aiming to reduce the impact of global warming.
As part of the UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance—formed of 69 asset owner members, including Swiss Re, Munich Re, SCOR, Zurich, AXA, QBE, Generali, L&G, and Aviva—Allianz was one of many who committed to new guidance that stated that the decarbonisation range for absolute portfolio emissions reductions from 2020 to 2025 should range between 22% to 32%. At that point, 30 members have already set 2025 targets.
Additionally, the alliance said that emissions reductions for the period 2020 to 2030 should range between 49% to 65% or beyond, following the same approach. This extended the ambition of the original targets of the Alliance, published January 2021, which it said reflected the speed at which all parts of the economy need to decarbonise.
Thallinger said at the time: “This advanced guidance will help investors already committed to net-zero to take the urgent shorter-term action that climate science demands. Where the first edition of this Protocol focused on 2020 to 2025, today’s ambition towards 2030 stresses the need for powerful, credible, and rapid action to achieve a net-zero emissions world.”
He added: “Action is needed now, and every company is challenged to follow the lead of Alliance members and adjust business models, develop plans for the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future, and then implement those plans.
