The unprecedented global transition to a resilient net-zero economy requires insurance companies to adapt their business models and strategies to reduce risks, seize opportunities; and support economic, social and environmental sustainability. This requires a credible transition plan.

This inaugural report of the UNEP Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero (FIT) and first deliverable of the FIT Transition Plan Project, is the first global guide on transition plans for insurance companies.

The report articulates the insurance industry’s triple role as risk managers, risk carriers and investors in supporting a just transition to a resilient net-zero economy. It assesses key features of insurers’ underwriting portfolios—across lines of insurance, the insurance value chain, and insurance actors involved—which need to be taken into account in transition planning, alongside interconnected, climate-related sustainability issues of protecting nature and biodiversity and preventing pollution via a circular economy.

To better understand the need for and importance of transition plans, the report also outlines the existing typology of transition plans, the landscape of emerging policies and regulations relevant to transition plans, and the evolution of transition plan frameworks and guidance.