Speaking at the recent S&P insurance conference, Chubb Ltd. CEO Evan Greenberg says insurance companies that have declared net zero targets are overpromising and leave themselves vulnerable to litigation.
Chubb hasn’t declared such a target, he added, because it can’t imagine how to measure the carbon footprint of all of its insured companies. “No company does”.
The executive sees Chubb’s role in the energy transition as a balance. Greenberg believes insurers can invest in and develop products to encourage carbon neutrality. It is especially important for P&C insurers to be able to price and manage exposure as weather volatility increases, he said.
“There are no cat seasons anymore,” he said, adding that insurers need to provide services to help customers remain resilient during the transition to a low-carbon economy.
However, Chubb continues to insure oil and gas “because the world needs energy.” Chubb does not underwrite things like coal and tar sands, where he said there are other options and “true sustainability issues,” but in his view it “would be irresponsible” to stop insuring oil and gas before there are “good alternatives.”
Greenberg sees ties between global inflation and geopolitical risk. Energy shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict will lead to the developed world taking more energy while developing countries suffer, he said.
Energy and food insecurity in these countries will then spur instability, greater nationalism, and higher geopolitical risk in these countries, which is a problem for Chubb as a large writer of trade credit.
Although there is risk in these countries, Greenberg believes 60%-70% of wealth over the next few decades will be created in Asia, so he still sees great opportunity in the region. Greenberg also believes Asia and Latin America are seeing the fastest digital innovation in the industry, although it is happening in the US as well.
The era of digitization is the future of the industry, Greenberg said. And that future “is here and now.” Insurance companies can use internal and external data to improve underwriting and the customer experience. In the US, Greenberg believes the Federal Reserve “is behind the curve” and the economy is moving toward a period of “potential stagflation.”
