Munich Re resigns from climate alliances

Munich Re has announced it has withdrawn from multiple climate alliances, including the UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, citing concerns that “increasing ambiguity” across different jurisdictions could result in “conflicting regulatory requirements and related legal uncertainty.”

The reinsurer further said that climate-related disclosures and requirements “have become very complex” for international companies and “disproportionate to the impact achieved in terms of climate protection.”

Munich Re has resigned from the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, Climate Action 100+ and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change as well as the UN Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which launched in 2019 and lists the decarbonization targets for 87 institutional investor members for 2025 and 2030.

Munich Re became a member of the UN-convened initiative a year after its launch in 2020, joining existing insurance members Swiss Re, Allianz and AXA.

Looking forward, Munich Re said it continues to prioritize climate protection and the goal of the Paris climate targets but will strike out on its own.

“We are convinced that we will be able to pursue our climate targets in a more focused and targeted manner on our own and simultaneously avoid non-regulatory prescribed reporting requirements and legal uncertainty,” it said.

“We observe an increasing ambiguity in assessing private initiatives under the legal and regulatory regimes across various jurisdictions, potentially resulting in conflicting regulatory requirements and related legal uncertainty.”

The reinsurer said it has met or exceeded interim climate targets it set itself for 2025 and will announce new targets toward the end of this year.

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