Guernsey Green Finance (GGF) and the Guernsey International Insurance Association have set out a strategic view on ways to develop green insurance product in the island, in a response to a discussion paper from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
The response was developed in a collaborative effort between the insurance industry body and the industry organisation driving the development of green and sustainable finance in the island.
Proposals for short-term action and long-term strategy include:
• Discounted regulation fees for green insurance
• Promotion of insurance-linked securities more strongly as a green product
• Broadening the island’s jurisdictional strategy to extend climate risk insurance to developing nations.
“This is a major opportunity to collaborate through Guernsey Green Finance and drive the widespread adoption of sustainable finance,” said GGF Chair Andy Sloan, who was heavily involved in the development of the Guernsey Green Fund, launched by the GFSC in 2018.
“We are confident the suggestions in our response to the discussion paper represent areas where there is the opportunity to develop green insurance, thanks to the island’s position as a specialist insurance centre and a leader in sustainable finance.”
Mike Johns, Chairman of GIIA, said: “We do not believe that policyholders should be exposed to unnecessary risk so that the insurer may pursue green and sustainable initiatives.
“However, we support the inclusion of incentives to invest in green assets within solvency calculations in two broad scenarios – where long-term liabilities could be linked with long-term green assets and for captive insurance companies, where the impact of insolvency could be reasonably maintained.”
• Click here to read the response
• Click here to read the GFSC's original discussion paper