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Talanx drops carbon, embraces renewables

HDI Global parent Talanx Group has for the first time calculated the emissions in its investments and plans to slice the carbon intensity of its liquid portfolio by almost a third.

This is “an important contribution to developing a sustainable, long-term path towards carbon neutrality by 2050,” it says.

Talanx now aims to lower carbon intensity in investments by 30% by 2025 and make all its worldwide operations climate-neutral by 2030. In underwriting, Talanx intends to phase out providing insurance for carbon-intensive industries and exit business models based on coal, oil and tar sands by 2038.

Other fossil fuels are being monitored closely and Talanx says it is making sustainable “green energy” investments in infrastructure such as wind turbines. It plans to become one of the leading insurers of renewable energy projects.

“Climate change is a serious threat and one that we, as an insurer, have to look at extremely closely in our risk modelling, investment policy, operations and underwriting,” Torsten Leue, Chairman of Talanx AG’s Board of Management said.

“We have underscored how seriously we take this by including sustainability aspects in our remuneration system.”

Talanx says its underwriting is focused on continuing to expand an ESG approach and these three dimensions of sustainability – the environment (E), social issues (S) and governance (G) – are the “yardstick by which underwriting is measured”.

Talanx is a member of the Principles for Responsible Investment initiative, an international investor network supported by the United Nations which has drawn up six principles for responsible investing.

Germany – home to more than 45% of Talanx’s workforce – has already achieved climate-neutral operations.