Canada to host UN consultation session on sustainability principles for insurers

Canada will host a United Nations-convened consultation session aimed at developing a set of sustainability principles for the insurance industry.
Between June 12 and 13, 2011, The Co-operators will host at its Guelph headquarters the third in a series of seven global consultation meetings to develop the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance (UNEP FI-PSI).
The principles will serve as the global framework for insurance companies to better manage environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities in their core business strategies and operations.
The principles will include concrete actions to enhance risk management and underwriting practices, stimulate innovative insurance solutions and catalyse industry action on a range of sustainability issues such as natural catastrophe risks, climate change, ecosystem degradation, aging populations and emerging health risks.
Executives from the United Nations will join insurance industry leaders and representatives from government, business and industry, civil society, academia and other stakeholders from Bermuda, Canada and the United States at the consultation meeting for North America.
The global consultation process started in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, and following North America, the meetings will span Oceania, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Asia.