Lloyd’s, QBE latest to exit NZIA

Lloyd’s and QBE have become the latest participants to withdraw from the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), according to updates on Friday.

“Lloyd has decided to withdraw from NZIA with immediate effect,” Lloyd said in an update shared on its website. “We continue to support the UN’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance and Sustainable Development Goals, and remain committed to delivering our sustainability strategy including supporting the global economic transition.”

QBE also announced its “resignation as a member organization” on May 26.

“We will continue to work with our stakeholders to deliver on our broader sustainability strategy,” QBE said in a press release on Friday.

Several insurers and reinsurers pulled out of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) voluntary alliance last month, some citing anti-trust concerns. AXA, Scor, and Allianz all left the group on Thursday, following the departure of big names including Zurich, Swiss Re, Hannover Re, and Munich Re.

“Whatever the situation, UNEP has reaffirmed its conviction since it initiated, convened, and launched the NZIA—that to successfully address the climate emergency, there is a fundamental and urgent need for collaboration, not only by individual action,” said UNEP in a May 24 update.

Last week, before the confirmation that the insurance market would withdraw from the alliance, Lloyd’s CEO John Neal told Reuters: “There are five objectives, and you have 12 months to meet one of them and 36 months to meet all three of them.

“NZIA needs to look at what its goals are, or the alliance will fall apart.”

As big names, including founding members of NZIA, head for the exit, the alliance has seen a new addition. In April, Beneva bucked the trend by joining the NZIA, becoming Canada’s first member insurer.