Environmental information disclosure of insurance companies kicked off

In 2015, the overall plan for the reform of ecological civilization system issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council clearly put forward the grand goal of "green development and the establishment of a green financial system". With the proposal of the "double carbon" goal, the green transformation of economy and society is imminent, and the development of green finance is particularly important. The environmental information disclosure of financial institutions is not only conducive to relevant enterprises to pay more attention to their own green development, but also conducive to the flow of social capital to green industries, promote the development of green industries, and provide assistance for the realization of the "double carbon" goal.

The construction of relevant systems is indispensable for financial institutions to disclose environmental information in a timely, effective and high-quality manner. As early as 2017, China started the pilot work of environmental information disclosure of financial institutions. After years of pilot exploration, the People's Bank of China issued and implemented the guidelines for environmental information disclosure of financial institutions (JR / T 0227-2021) on July 22, 2021. As one of the first green finance standards in China, the guide aims to standardize the environmental information disclosure of financial institutions, guide the more accurate allocation of financial resources to green and low-carbon fields, help financial institutions and stakeholders identify, quantify and manage environmental related financial risks, and help China's economic and social low-carbon transformation.

As a part of financial institutions, insurance companies are required to disclose the environmental impact of their underwriting activities to the public in a timely, objective, accurate and complete manner, including but not limited to: (1) Integrate environmental factors into risk management and continuously study and monitor climate change and other related risks; (2) Summarize the basic situation of main green insurance products and services; (3) Green investment strategy and implementation effect; (4) The operation of investing insurance funds in green investment products and related insurance funds; (5) Underwriting of environmental pollution liability insurance; (6) Underwriting of green insurance other than environmental pollution liability insurance; (7) Encourage the disclosure of relevant information to assist the insured enterprises of environmental pollution liability insurance to improve the level of environmental risk management; (8) Changes in green insurance products and services compared with previous years, and encourage disclosure of their impact on the environment. Insurance companies are encouraged to disclose the above environmental impact information at least once a year through the preparation of special environmental information reports or through social responsibility reports / annual reports. So far, the environmental information disclosure of insurance companies has begun.