Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing us all and we’re committed to working with our customers, suppliers and business partners to respond to the changing climate. Today we have published our Climate Report 2020, which is a key part of how we hold ourselves accountable to that commitment.
We’re a founding member of ClimateWise, which sets out six key principles against which we are independently assessed each year and this report charts the progress we have made against those principles over the last 12 months.
This year, we have benefited from having our Hiscox ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) framework in place which guides us in all aspects of ESG, helping us to stay focused and make an impact, ensuring we continue to take consistent action towards tackling climate change. Some key highlights are:
Climate change oversight and accountability
We’ve established a cycle of twice-yearly reporting to the Executive Committee and Board on climate-related issues, and we appointed two senior managers with regulatory responsibility for managing the financial risks from climate change onto our relevant UK boards.
Climate stress testing
We took part in the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority biennial General Insurance Stress Test which for the first time required us to examine the potential impact of a climate-related event on our business, alongside the more traditional scenarios.
Using technology to highlight flood risk
We hosted a virtual reality event for some of our key US brokers, bringing the flood risk to life and demonstrating the uniqueness of our FloodPlus products.
Improved risk modelling
We introduced new wildfire risk modelling, which has increased our understanding of the risk and helped us to set more accurate premiums.
Reducing environmental waste from our claims
Through our partnership with AnyJunk,186,000kg of rubbish removed from our UK property claims was collected, 94.7% of which was reused or recycled.
Continuing to reduce our carbon emissions
We reduced our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions per full-time equivalent (FTE) by 1% year-on-year.
Giving back to society
We donated over $8 million to good causes, including $7 million pledged to support charities responding to COVID-19 such as The Felix Project, which reduces food waste in London.
Read the full report here.
