Our sustainability priorities
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks impact our customers and consequently our business. This is why our Group continually and thoroughly assesses the propensity of each risk to upend our way of life. Our assessment is based off:
- Disruptive capacity: A risk’s potential impact on businesses
- Proximity: The period with which the issues would have an effect.
- Adaptive capacity: The preparedness to manage each risk.
These metrics have guided our Group in paving and committing to a path forward that actively seek solutions for the following issues.
The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters caused by climate change are risks shared by the entire planet. For non-life insurance companies deeply involved in responding to such disasters, the continued degradation of our climate has a pronounced impact on our operations when it comes to addressing increasing claim payouts.
This is why our parent company, the MS&AD Insurance Group endorses the Paris Agreement. The agreement aims to alleviate climate change issues and is ratified by countries and businesses around the world. In December 2015, our Group signed on to the Paris Pledge for Action to declare its commitment toward this goal. Since then, these goals have been front and centre in our accelerating plans to transform into a more sustainable business.
As an insurer, the MS&AD Insurance Group is focused on addressing accumulated risks of compounded damage caused by natural disasters. Our Group also continually ascertains social changes to strengthen the business’ risk management capabilities.
We are pushing ambitious targets on all fronts. The entire Group is committed to half our emissions by 2030 (using 2019 as the base year) and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
In the markets we operate in, we continue to support sustainable development by providing insurance products that are designed to reduce damage and loss incurred from extreme weather events caused by climate change which in turn adversely impact the activities of corporations and those of other nature. Through extensive research and development, we are also carving new paths by developing products and services that help advance the transition towards a decarbonised society.
Our Group endorses the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and promotes the disclosure of financial information as well as subscribes to CDP’s approaches by continuously submitting new data.
Our ecosystems and natural resources are the foundation of economies and lifestyles around the world. The degeneration and depletion of which will significantly and detrimentally affect the quality of our lives.
In July 2016, MS&AD Insurance Group signed the Natural Capital Declaration (NCD) in support of its assertion that financial institutions should incorporate the idea of “natural capital” into their financial products and services.
To address this, our Group provides risk management and insurance products that guard against the risks of climate change and natural capital degradation. By meeting the challenge of climate change in our times, our Group is building up the resilience of our customers and the communities we operate in.
The change we envision can be even more impactful if everybody leans in. That is why we actively engage group-wide employees to deepen their knowledge of the importance of biodiversity conservation.
This includes highlighting the Group’s multiple initiatives aimed at conserving biodiversity that also seek to deepen engagement with local communities in the areas of environment, people development and social welfare.
Once such example is the restoration of Paliyan Wildlife Sanctuary in Yogyakarta Special Province on Java Island, Indonesia. Since our Group’s involvement from 2005, this initiative has restored and replanted 300,000 native tree species. It is estimated that the sanctuary will absorb around 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and helps in reducing floods and landslides in that region.
Back within the organisation, change from within is also apparent with sustained efforts focused on reducing the use of plastic and greenhouse gas emissions. Each and every single undertaking reflects our understanding that a sustainable operations model isn’t just good for people and the planet – it’s also good for business.
MS&AD Insurance Group signed the UN Global Compact and voiced support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in June 2004.
To demonstrate our Group’s commitment, approaches have been adopted in line with the ILO Core Labor Standards and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. An initiative that has resulted from that is the MS&AD Insurance Group Basic Policy on Human Rights, announced in February 2017.
Subsequently, at MSIG Asia, we also developed our local Human Rights Policy. The policy reflects how we continually strive towards the highest ethical standard when it comes to respecting human rights throughout the organisation’s value chains.
MSIG Asia’s Human Rights Policy
We believe that all individuals should be treated with dignity and respect. We respect basic human rights in all business activities, and not discriminate regardless of race, nationality, gender, age, ethnic origin, descent (family origin), social status, creed, religion, physical characteristics, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or pregnancy.
We are guided by the provisions of the standards in the UN International Bill of Human Rights (which consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), the corporate code of conduct in the UN Global Compact, and the principles concerning fundamental rights set out in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, in the manner that they operate.
We support the UN Declaration of Human Rights articles, including the following principles:
- Right to be treated with dignity
- Right to be free from discrimination
- Right to security
- Right to fair trial and hearings
- Right to protection of own privacy
- Right to be protected from attacks or degrading treatment
- Right to just and favourable work conditions and remuneration
- Right to rest and leisure
- Right to protection of copyright
- Right to freedom of opinion and expression
We have put in place a robust system to monitor the design and implementation of internal policies to ensure they comply with our Group’s human rights commitment. This includes assessment and prevention of any actual and potential human rights risks; remediation if human rights have been found to be adversely impacted; and education and training of employees to raise awareness.
As a socially responsible employer, it is our obligation to create an open and harmonious culture where the fundamental rights of each employee are protected. The promotion of a bias-free, positive working environment is a commitment that we will undertake.
We will also advocate for the same level of commitment from our business partners and suppliers where we can exercise influence.
If you have any enquiries or concerns on MSIG Asia’s Human Rights Policy and practices, please contact us.
Human Rights enquiries
