As an internationally operating reinsurer, we transact all lines of property & casualty and life & health reinsurance worldwide. Our products and services help to ensure that risks to society and the environment can be adequately insured and that adverse effects in the event of loss or damage can be rectified or mitigated. At its very heart, the business of insurance involves cushioning the burden caused by loss events and providing financial protection for companies and private individuals alike through the transfer and spreading of risks.
The further expansion of sustainable reinsurance solutions and stepping up of our cooperation with primary insurers are goals defined in our Sustainability Strategy 2018 – 2020.
In the context of our materiality process we identified the issue of sustainable insurance solutions as material.
As a reinsurer, i.e. a provider of business-to-business services, with few exceptions we have no direct contact with end consumers. As a general principle, then, our business activities do not create direct access to financial services. Through our range of products we nevertheless indirectly help many people to access insurance protection. Indeed, it is frequently only thanks to internationally operating reinsurers that primary insurers are even in a position to cover large individual risks and those associated with natural perils. We thus help to boost insurance density not only in mature markets but also in emerging and developing countries, and we contribute to social and financial inclusion. Furthermore, we assist both established and young insurance companies with the cost-intensive acquisition of new business and with increasing insurance density.
We support sustainable insurance solutions designed to minimise adverse environmental and social impacts on society. They range from the expansion of renewable energy sources through the reinsurance of bodily injuries and property damage to protection against natural catastrophe events.
Insurance solutions such as microinsurance and agricultural covers contribute to social development and the protection of the population – including in structurally deprived regions. These solutions ensure that even people with scant financial means are able to protect themselves against basic risks such as sickness, disability, the consequences of natural disasters or crop failures. We also participate actively in the development of index-based disaster finance concepts that guarantee prompt financial aid for countries in South America and Asia in the event of a natural disaster.
We have supported the transformation process in the energy industry through our increased underwriting of risks deriving from regenerative or alternative sources for a number of years now. In property and casualty reinsurance we facilitate the expansion of renewables ranging from onshore and offshore wind power to photovoltaic and geothermal energy. At the same time, we play our part in minimising adverse impacts. Our underwriting guidelines are revised regularly to reflect the latest developments. In April 2019 we took a conscious decision with respect to stand-alone risks that – as a general principle – we will no longer provide reinsurance coverage for any planned new coal-fired power plants or coal mines. Only in countries where coal accounts for a particularly large share of the energy mix and sufficient access to alternative energy sources is not available will a limited number of exceptions be permitted after review of the technical standards. Furthermore, we are aiming for a phased exit such that by the year 2038 we no longer cover any coal-based risks in connection with power generation in our entire property and casualty reinsurance portfolio.