Here’s How FM Global Is Doing Its Bit for the Climate Emergency

Our planet is in serious trouble. No matter what some corners of the internet and certain highly compromised commenters might claim, we are seeing the effects of man-made climate change on our environment in ever increasing quantities.

There is an inarguable scientific consensus of the fact the climate is changing, and that mankind’s activity is a direct contributor to an acceleration of this process. One only has to look at our nearest planetary neighbor, Mars, a planet which scientists believe was once much like our own before it suffered a dramatic climate shift, to see what could be in store for the Earth if dramatic action is not taken.

Evidence has shown that individual action has a negligible impact on the larger picture, meaning it will take efforts from global governments and corporations to truly turn the tide – a fact some entities are taking more seriously than others.

FM Global

One company trying to do its own part in fighting back against man-made climate change is Rhode Island based mutual commercial property insurance brand, FM Global, an organization which puts sustainability at the heart of its entire operation.

"There is clear, scientific evidence that shows the world's climate is changing,” says the company. "As climate change progresses, the frequency and severity of some natural disasters will increase. Expanding global population, globalized supply chains and rapid growth of less-resilient developing markets are already increasing the impact of natural hazards. Climate change only exacerbates this trend. FM Global continues to focus on helping clients manage and mitigate their natural hazard exposures due to dynamic and intensifying climate risk.”

It is this need which has led the insurance brand to develop and launch two brand new climate reporting tools designed specifically to help its policy holding customers prioritize investments in areas which focus on climate risk mitigation.

The first of these tools, the climate risk report, applies a score to policyholders calculated from the actions it takes to address climate risk and its exposure to events such as flood, windstorms, hail, and wildfire. This score is calculated from billions of property risk data points collated from more than 60,000 engineering visits to policyholder sites.

The climate risk report is backed up by a climate reporting aid which has been developed by FM Global to assist policyholders is disclosing acute and chronic climate-related financial risks to investors and the public according to widely adopted frameworks such as the International Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. FM Global will also be offering a 5% premium offset to policyholders to help policyholders invest in climate mitigation – a credit which is expected to total around $300 million across the company’s policyholder base.

Climate Resilience

The climate risk report and climate reporting aid tools are the latest additions to a suite of innovation which are helping FM global develop a holistic climate resilience index which can feed into the engineering of solutions which empower its customers to protect the environment for a more prosperous future.

Data from these endeavors will lead to climate resilience products and consultative services with the support and flexibility policyholders need to make environmentally conscious decisions in their ongoing operations.

• The Resilience Index provides rankings of the relative resilience of the business environments of nearly 130 countries. Customers can use it to make strategic decisions about their supply chains, owned locations, siting of new facilities or acquisitions and divestments.
• Derive insights into both a country's vulnerability to disruptive events and its ability to recover swiftly.
• Use two interactive filters —Climate Risk and ESG— to better understand inherent country risks through this lens.

By incentivizing policyholders to make climate responsible decisions through is 5% resilience credit and providing them with solid actionable data into the investments being made and their direct impact on the environments they operate in and the communities they serve, FM Global makes sure its customers are fully equipped and empowered to contribute towards an ongoing fightback against the climate emergency and the commentators which would have us all sit on our hands until it’s too late – if indeed it isn’t already.

Final Thoughts

There is no denying the need for urgent action on climate change and the onus must fall to governments and corporations to shoulder the lion’s share of responsibility in addressing the greatest existential challenge our species has ever faced. FM Global’s commitment to providing clear information and incentives to policyholders to do their bit for the crisis is but one step along that road.

Sustainable investments are sure to be a hot topic at Digital Insurance Summit 2023, being held in May at the Hyatt Regency Austin, TX.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.