The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), convened by the United Nations, is a group of more than 20 leading insurers representing over 11% of the global premium volume. NZIA members have committed to aligning their insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios with a Net Zero economy by 2050, consistent with limiting global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. This supports the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

In this context, insurers are expected to calculate the climate alignment of their portfolios and define targets and actions to integrate activities compatible with a Net Zero economy. Numerous methodologies already exist for investment portfolio alignment, but those for insurance portfolios are still under development. This creates the need for a research program to build methodologies capable of calculating the alignment of such portfolios, focusing on two sectors: automotive and agriculture.

Traditionally, alignment studies focus on sectors related to energy and industry. The scenarios commonly used for these sectors are those developed by the IEA. The agricultural sector has received far less attention so far, even though it accounts for a significant share of global emissions. This is partly due to the complexity of assessing emissions in this sector. Although emerging work on agricultural alignment exists, the topic is not yet mature. France has developed climate scenarios for this sector through its National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC) and through Ademe, which works on sectoral transition pathways. These will serve as a basis for the analyses and methodological developments conducted in this project.

A specific focus will be placed on carbon capture in the agricultural sector. Agriculture is unique in that it can naturally sequester carbon. This feature is not always well reflected in generic alignment methodologies. The present project aims to propose methodological adaptations to incorporate this factor into the insurance-based assessment of activities in the agricultural sector.

Other forward-looking research topics will also be addressed as part of this project:
– The Crédit Agricole Group and its various subsidiaries have joined the different Net Zero initiatives (NZBA for banks, NZAOA for asset managers…). Pacifica (via CAA) has joined the NZIA, and it is important to ensure consistency between the respective commitments and the methodologies used by the group’s entities under these initiatives. A comparison of methodologies will therefore be carried out across entities to highlight any discrepancies.

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