Ratings agency AM Best has become a signatory of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI).
The principles are endorsed by the UN Secretary-General and have led to the the PSI Initiative, largest collaborative initiative between the UN and the insurance industry.
Furthermore, management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts are seen as a way to strengthen the insurance industry’s contribution to building a resilient, inclusive and sustainable society.
The move sees AM Best join over 140 organisations in the adoption of the the four Principles for Sustainable Insurance.
“AM Best and its major affiliates are pleased to become a signatory to the U.N.’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance,” said said Arthur Snyder III, Chairman, President & CEO of AM Best Company.
“The Principles ‘serve as a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social and governance risk and opportunities.
“This fits both our focus on insurance and our continued perspective that ESG elements play an important role in the financial strength of an insurance company.
“We’ve long captured environmental and governance issues in our ratings opinions through catastrophe stress tests, A&E tests and ERM. ESG is a repackaging of these. Through the PSI, we are making a further commitment of disclosure and transparency to forward an ESG agenda,” said Matthew C. Mosher, President & CEO of AM Best Rating Services.
“We are delighted that the world’s first credit rating agency is also the first credit rating agency to sign the UN’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI),” said Butch Bacani, who leads the PSI at the UN Environment Programme.
“As the largest credit rating agency specializing in the insurance industry, this is a clear and strong signal from AM Best that sustainability matters in the insurance business, that sustainability counts. In the final analysis, the bottom line is sustainability.”
