At Chubb, we recognize our responsibility to provide solutions that help clients manage environmental risks, to reduce our own environmental impact and to make meaningful contributions to environmental causes.
Chubb’s Environmental Citizenship
At Chubb, good corporate citizenship lies at our core — how we practice our craft of insurance, how we work together to serve our customers, how we treat each other, and how we work to help make a better world for our communities and our planet. Citizenship is about responsibility — and we express that responsibility in a way that reflects our core values and our mission to protect the present and build a better future.
One of those core values is our desire to do our part as a steward of the earth. We realize this commitment in a number of ways:
- Recognizing and responding to the reality of climate change across our businesses
- Managing environmental risk for our customers with innovative products and risk engineering solutions
- Supporting environmental resiliency projects throughout the world
- Protecting biodiversity and saving land through our philanthropy
- Reducing the environmental footprint of our own operations
Chubb and Climate Change
Climate change is a reality and its effects can be seen by an increased frequency and severity of natural catastrophes. Climate change is contributing to higher sea surface temperatures, rising sea levels and increasing trend in extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, winter storms, heat waves, wildfires and hurricane intensity. Chubb’s business involves providing clients with insurance and reinsurance protection from the impact of natural catastrophes, including weather events that are more frequent or severe. We recognize that a changing climate affects everyone — customers, employees, shareholders, business partners and the communities we serve.
Governance. At Chubb, assessing and managing risk starts at the top, with senior management. Risk management at Chubb is rigorous, with processes and governance to provide checks and balances. Chubb’s global enterprise risk management (ERM) framework — which encompasses climate risk — is embraced by colleagues at all levels of the company, from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board of Directors, down to each business unit and function. It is broadly multi–disciplinary and one of its objectives is effective governance. Read more about Governance
Strategy. Chubb is an underwriting company, and the company strives to emphasize quality of underwriting rather than volume of business or market share. The company’s underwriting strategy is to manage risk by employing consistent, disciplined pricing and risk selection. Underwriting discipline is at the heart of our operating philosophy. Chubb applies the same risk management rigor to its broadly diversified fixed income portfolio as it does to the company’s underwriting practice. In addition, Chubb accounts for the potential impact of catastrophe and climate risks on the company’s own facilities and operations. Direct risk to Chubb’s business operations exists to the extent that increasingly frequent or severe weather events associated with climate change occur where Chubb has offices. Read more about Strategy
Risk Management. The potential impacts of climate change on the insurance industry are myriad and multivariate. These risks and opportunities fall broadly into three categories: physical risks and opportunities; transition risks and opportunities; and liability risks and opportunities. Read more about Risk Management
Metrics and targets. Chubb measures and reports on climate risk in a number of different ways.
A primary objective of Chubb’s environmental program is to measure, record and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the company’s own operations.
At the end of 2019, Chubb achieved the first of its two GHG emissions reduction goals. We reduced our GHG emissions by 22% off a 2016 baseline, exceeding our goal of reducing emissions 20% by 2025. As of year-end 2020, Chubb also reached the second of its two goals by reducing our GHG emissions by 41% off a 2016 baseline. However, because of the anomalous effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, we do not consider the second goal “achieved” on a year-over-year basis. We accomplished this goal through a combination of real estate portfolio optimization, energy efficiency projects and renewable electricity purchase.
Chubb will continue to use these strategies to pursue our long–term goal to reduce GHG emissions 40% by 2035. Achieving this goal is expected to result in the emissions reduction of nearly 45,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. Chubb's goals are aligned with the two-degree Celsius target outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the quantitatively supported science-based standards methodology of the United Nations Environmental Program.
This was the third GHG emissions reduction commitment that Chubb has undertaken since launching our Corporate Environmental Program in 2006, and the first that adheres to science–based standards. This was also the first companywide goal announced since ACE Limited acquired The Chubb Corporation and adopted the Chubb name globally in 2016.
Environmental Solutions
Chubb is committed to developing insurance products and risk management services that facilitate market–based solutions to current and pending environmental and climate-related issues. Today, Chubb is one of the largest and most advanced global underwriters of environmental liabilities and pollution risk, with environmental risk units in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Chubb’s advanced environmental insurance solutions include coverages for premises-based exposures, contractors’ and project pollution liability, renewable energy, clean tech and environmental cleanup projects, as well as “green building” consulting services and a property policy that enables greener rebuilding after a loss.
Chubb’s role in mitigating supply chain and global operations risks through its risk engineering services helps organizations identify climate-related exposures and provides risk management expertise to help manage environmental challenges caused by climate change.
LEED Projects
Chubb has implemented green building practices in many of our buildings. In a number of locations, we have pursued the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. Green building practices help improve indoor air quality, address resource management and reduce building water and energy use. Both of our largest office building locations in the U.S., Philadelphia and Whitehouse Station, N.J., are LEED–certified Platinum and Gold, respectively. Our building in Bermuda is LEED–certified Platinum. Many of our leased properties around the world are also LEED–certified, including among others Paris (Platinum), Chicago (Gold), Quito (Silver) and New York (Silver). In total, 25 Chubb offices are in LEED–certified buildings.
Following the LEED
Chubb’s twin Whitehouse Station office buildings in New Jersey boast acres of human-built wetlands featuring local vegetation and wildlife that local universities and schools visit to study. Efforts to maximize the buildings' energy efficiency included replacing all lighting with LED bulbs and the use of environmentally conscious cleaning supplies. Green Business Certification Inc., the organization that administers LEED certification assessments and credentials, stated in its report that the buildings are "a showcase example of sustainability and demonstrates Chubb's leadership in transforming the building industry."
Corporate Environmental Program Global Goals
The Corporate Environmental Program has additional operational goals, including establishing a recycling program in each office and working toward 100% adoption, globally discontinuing use of disposable plastic water bottles, removing all disposable Styrofoam products, purchasing only sustainable copy paper, and reducing paper consumption year over year. A number of Chubb’s offices, including some of our largest locations, have met these goals. Others are making progress on the journey to achieve them.
Airy and Light in the City of Lights
In June 2019, Chubb’s operations in France moved into a new headquarters in Paris. The new building was awarded the Very High Energy performance label (THPE 2005); HQE certification issued by the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment); and LEED Platinum certification issued by the Green Business Certification, Inc.
"By moving into the new Paris office, despite being in a very urban place, Chubb prioritized providing employees with a spacious atmosphere and a lot of natural light. The open and airy atmosphere has had a tremendous impact on our work environment. On top of that, the building uses rain water for non-potable uses and a Parisian aquifer for balancing the temperature. It really is about combining technology and nature."
— Dorothée Prunier Senior Vice President, Environmental Risks Chubb Overseas General
Environmental Philanthropy
The environment is a priority in Chubb’s corporate philanthropy. Chubb supports communities around the world in which our employees live and work through our established philanthropic entities and via company-sponsored volunteer initiatives. For example, grants from Chubb’s charitable foundations have helped preserve sensitive lands and habitats across the U.S. and around the world, finance “green” business entrepreneurs, and support educational programs that promote a healthy and sustainable environment. Learn more about Chubb’s environmental philanthropy
Coal Policy
Chubb recognizes the reality of climate change and the substantial impact of human activity on our planet. Chubb’s commitment to do its part as a steward of the Earth is reflected in the company’s policy concerning coal-related underwriting and investment, which was adopted on July 1, 2019. Under this policy, the company no longer underwrites the construction and operation of new coal-fired plants or new risks for companies that generate more than 30% of their revenues from coal mining or energy production from coal. Insurance coverage for existing coal-plant risks that exceed this threshold will be phased out by 2022, and for utilities beginning in 2022. In addition, Chubb does not make new debt or equity investments in companies that generate more than 30% of revenues from thermal coal mining or energy production from coal.
Engaging Our Employees
Chubb has long engaged its employees in environmental efforts. Various offices have had employee–led “green teams” for decades. However, in the interest of coordinating globally and connecting employees across the company, on Earth Day 2019 we founded the Chubb Environmental Network (CEN). The CEN is comprised of volunteer employees in offices around the world and acts as a resource that globally connects employees passionate about environmental sustainability. CEN’s goals are to support Chubb’s environmental goals; set office–specific goals for environmental sustainability; communicate Chubb’s past and current environmental initiatives and success stories to Chubb employees; and be thought leaders in Chubb’s role in reacting and responding to environmental challenges.
Chubb Climate–Related Financial Disclosure and Environmental Report
The Chubb Corporate Environmental Program is now in its 15th year. Chubb remains committed to communicating important information about the company’s environmental initiatives to our clients, shareholders, employees, business partners, the communities where we operate and others who have an interest in our company, our industry and the environment. Our Climate-Related Financial Disclosure and Environmental Report outlines the full scope of the company’s environmental program and initiatives.