Risk dialogue and awareness - Prior to 2006

2005

Swiss Re CEO John Coomber participates at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual Meeting; he also speaks at a panel discussion with Al Gore on “Global Warming and Severe Weather Events” as well as speaks to members of the US Congress and Senate.

By invitation from UK PM Tony Blair, Deputy CEO Jacques Aigrain represents Swiss Re on the G8 Climate Change Roundtable organised by the Government of the United Kingdom and the World Economic Forum. Swiss Re is a signatory to the subsequent statement outlining the key principles of how the topic should be tackled. The statement is backed by the heads of twenty-three global companies and is presented to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the run-up to the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

Jacques Aigrain speaks at the World Economic Forum panel discussion on climate change.

Member of the Swiss Re Executive Board John Fitzpatrick speaks at the UK House of Lords in connection with its Towards Sustainable Aviation Group.

Jacques Dubois, Member of the Executive Board and Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding, attends the Energy & Environment Ministerial Roundtable, and speaks at the G20 meeting in London.

By invitation from the London Mayor , Swiss Re advocates for the need to adapt to climate change at the “C20: The World Cities Leadership Climate Change Summit” in London.

Swiss Re advocates for market-based solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As part of this effort, Swiss writes a letter of support to the governors of all the states in the US Northeast in support of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and its market-based greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.

Swiss Re writes letters to UK PM Tony Blair and to UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to advocate for a political framework on climate change and a low-carbon economy.

2004

Peter Forstmoser, Chairman of the Swiss Re Board of Directors, speaks at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress on climate change.

Swiss Re is a member of the California Climate Change Advisory Committee, formed to advise the state’s Energy Commission on the most equitable and efficient ways to implement international and national climate change policies.

2003

Swiss Re speaks before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, emphasising the seriousness of the threat of climate change and advocating for a regulatory response to the issue.

Swiss Re writes a letter of support for Senate Bill 139, better known as the McCain-Liebermann Climate Stewardship Act.

2002

Swiss Re continues its advocacy (since 2002) for a worldwide, market-based policy framework on climate change: this within the scope of Swiss Re’s membership in the UNEP Finance Initiative’s Climate Change Working Group.

Swiss Re is a founding signatory of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s first reporting round. Thirty-five institutional investors write to the FT500 Global Index companies requesting investment-relevant greenhouse gas emissions information.

Swiss Re is a member (since COP-1 in 1995) of the UNEP Insurance Industry Initiative, and is present at auxiliary events and press conferences surrounding the international climate negotiations. Within this framework, Swiss Re advocates for a worldwide, market-based climate change policy framework.

1995

Swiss Re issues its “Climate position statement” and signs the “UNEP Statement of Environmental Commitment by the Insurance Industry”.

2005

Swiss Re CEO John Coomber participates in a panel discussion on climate change at the Lloyd's “European Risk Forum – The Future of Risk” conference.

Deputy CEO Jacques Aigrain joins the Climate Change Roundtable at the World Economic Forum. He describes the insurance industry’s role in bringing forward the issue through the mechanism of changes in insurance and underwriting costs that reflect the perceived risks of climate change.

Swiss Re CRO Christian Mumenthaler speaks on "Climate change: the reinsurance perspective" at the conference “Making Sustainability and Economic Development Work Together – Learning from China's Challenge”.

Member of the Swiss Re Executive Board John Fitzpatrick hosts a panel on “Climate change – challenges for insurers and strategies for governments” at the Association of British Insurers’ bi-annual conference.

Swiss Re delivers the reinsurance keynote speech at the ABI International Climate Change Conference.

Swiss Re is invited regularly (since 2005) by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to speak on climate change risks. The mission of the NAIC is to assist state insurance regulators, individually and collectively, in serving the public interest and achieving fundamental regulatory goals in a responsive, efficient and cost effective manner, consistent with the wishes of its members.

Swiss Re contributes to the “Institutional Investors Summit on Climate Risks” at the United Nations headquarters in New York, showing how investors can protect their asset portfolios against the financial impact of climate change.

2003

John Coomber addresses the participants at the “Institutional Investors Summit on Climate Risks” at the United Nations headquarters.

Swiss Re engages (since 2001) in active risk dialogue and raises the awareness of climate change-related risks and opportunities by organising international conferences at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon or other locations worldwide.

2004

Swiss Re raises awareness among the public at large by providing financial support and know-how for the TV series “The Great Warming”. Filmed at various locations around the globe, it includes contributions from experts, scientists and concerned citizens, and is narrated by environmentally conscious celebrities. The documentary shows how climate change can affect our future. It was first broadcast in Canada in 2004, and was aired later in the US, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, China and Japan.