2014
Climate Change Strategy
How Allianz Group contributes to a low-carbon economy
Climate change is real. Climates have always been changing. But now there is
one big difference: human activity largely contributes to these changes. Allianz
supports the transition to a low-carbon economy. We understand climate
protection as a viable business and investment case.
Global warming
threatens to radically
change our climate
and environment
Climate change
impacts the financial
sector
A changing world
requires action and
fosters business
opportunities
As a global corporate citizen, Allianz takes
sustainability seriously. Environmental, social and
corporate governance (ESG) aspects are
continuously being integrated into our operations,
insurance and investment decisions. Climate
change is an important mega trend [read more]
that our ESG activities specifically address.
Climate change, mainly caused by human-activity
induced (anthropogenic) global warming, poses a
major risk to the livelihoods of millions of people
world-wide. It affects the wealth of societies and
the value of companies by increasing the
likelihood of weather extremes and by decreasing
the availability of natural resources such as water
or arable land. It is also a driver of energy prices
as cooling- and heating-related demand
increases. Over time, we expect carbon markets
to provide a price signal to emitters to reduce
heat-trapping greenhouse gases, which cause
climate shifts.
Since climate change is expected to increase the
frequency and severity of weather extremes –
such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and
potentially also storms – it materially affects
insurers' operations across all lines of business.
Insurers are exposed in two ways: through
policies covering damage caused by natural
disasters e.g. storms or floodings, and as largescale institutional investors with e.g. significant
stakes in companies affected by changing
weather patterns, tightening regulations and
shifting consumer behavior.
At the same time, a growing public awareness of
anthropogenic climate change together with
concerns around future energy security have
initiated transformational change in the way we
produce and use energy. This unprecedented
challenge has also created new opportunities at a
© Allianz Climate Solutions GmbH www.acs.allianz.com
global scale that both drives economic
development and creates social benefits.
Developing a low-carbon economy via expanding
alternative energies and more efficient energy
use, as well as enhancing the preparedness to
climate change will be among the key response
measures. Putting the global economy on the
right path to mitigate and to adapt to climate
change will provide new investment opportunities
with attractive risk-return profiles and sufficient
scale, which could be of interest also to
institutional investors, e.g. the Allianz Group. So
far, the number of projects in this category is
small – in particular without public support – but
we expect this to change over time [read more].
Climate Protection at Allianz Group
As an integrated financial services provider,
Allianz is well aware that climate change could
affect its entire business spectrum. We therefore
adapt internal processes, policies, products and
services to meet the challenges our clients face,
and to identify new business opportunities at an
early
stage
to
safeguard
our
own
competitiveness.
Allianz’
Climate
Change
Strategy outlines how Allianz contributes to a lowcarbon economy and consists of three areas,
embraced by our thought and action leadership:
Thought &
action leader
Company
Investor
Financial
services
provider
Thought and action leader
Allianz Group follows
its responsibility
Thought
& action
leader
Allianz leverages and shares
its knowledge on climate
research and analysis to inform
dialogues with stakeholders.
Allianz actively engages in
leading industry initiatives like the UN
Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP
FI), the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII)
and ClimateWise to channel its expertise, share
knowledge with peers and convey messages to
decision makers. Through our memberships, we
also attend the international climate negotiations.
Creating a consciousness of climate change risks
and opportunities in the Group’s DNA is a key
objective; neutralizing our carbon footprint,
capitalizing on climate-related investments and
mainstreaming innovative green solutions are part
of this strategy.
Activities as a company
Company
Living our
responsibility as a
corporate citizen
(internal activities)
Despite
being
part
of
a
comparatively low-carbon sector,
Allianz is committed to reducing its
environmental impact and to a
carbon neutral business model.
The four levers of Allianz’ carbon reduction
strategy are: avoid, reduce, substitute, and
neutralize. Our efforts focus on the main drivers of
our carbon footprint: energy, travel and paper.
Allianz has a 35% carbon reduction goal by 2015
(vs. 2006) and reports on progress every year.
Activities as an investor
Pursuing viable
business
opportunities
(external activities)
Mobilizing just 1% of available
institutional assets per year would be
Investor
sufficient to finance a sustainable
energy
transition.
Alternative
climate-related assets, such as
renewable energies and new infrastructure, are an
attractive growth market and can contribute to
portfolio diversification as well as (potentially) offer
sound long-term returns. Allianz is one of the
world’s largest investors in wind and solar power
[read more] and offered third party clients in 2013
for the first time the opportunity to invest into a
renewable energies fund [read more].
Allianz SE and both our asset management
entities are signatories to the UN Principles for
Responsible Investment (PRI). This commitment
helps us to leverage our current responsible
investment practice and enhances consistency
across asset classes and regions to further our
systematic approach.
Directly investing in certificate-generating carbon
projects [read more] is a viable business case and
serves as an anchor for our CO2 neutralization
strategy. Direct involvement is the basis for the
generation of impact in areas we deem to be the
rewarding challenges of the future. Investments
undertaken include, amongst others, forest
protection in Indonesia as well as Kenya and
energy efficiency in India.
Activities as a financial services provider
Allianz is signatory to the UN Principles for
Sustainable Insurance (PSI), to further integrate
ESG in our understanding of risk and enhance our
skills in risk management.
Allianz offers its customers a
growing range of green solutions,
Financial
supporting the contribution to a
services
low-carbon economy and helping
provider
protect the environment. Green
solutions
(1)
facilitate
a
technology, development or market focusing on
climate and the environment and/ or reduce
clients’ exposure to financial and regulatory risks,
(2) focus on conservation of the environment and
mitigation of climate change and/ or (3) reduce
environmental risks for clients and help to adapt
to climate change impacts.
Green solutions are developed across all
segments including insurance, assistance,
services and asset management. They range
from insuring clean technologies and energy
efficiency
advisory
services
to
offering
environmentally-themed funds [read more].
Allianz Group first published its Climate Change
Strategy in 2005

This 2014 version is an update, reflecting the progress
made in operationalizing the strategy.

We will continue to strengthen our climate activities and
pursue our active leadership role.

We are committed to applying our experience and
knowledge of climate risks and opportunities to support
our clients.

Allianz Climate Solutions GmbH (ACS) serves as the
center of competence for climate change for Allianz
Group. ACS brings together the expertise on climate
policy, cleantech investments and insurance within the
Allianz Group with a focus on the growing markets for
renewable energy and energy efficiency. ACS is
responsible for climate-related strategy at Allianz.
© Allianz Climate Solutions GmbH www.acs.allianz.com