(Reuters) – Axa, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, on Thursday published environmental targets for the first time for its insurance portfolio, setting goals to limit emissions of climate-warming gases linked to the cars and companies it covers.
Axa said it would aim for a 20% decrease in the carbon intensity of its largest individual motor insurance portfolios between 2019 and 2030, and a 30% decrease in absolute carbon emissions from its largest corporate branch customers between 2021 and 2030.
“This is absolutely crucial and represents a genuine transformation of our insurance business,” said Frederic de Courtois, Axa’s deputy CEO in charge of finance.
Carbon intensity is a measure of emissions linked to a company’s output, while absolute emissions refers to the total amount of emissions released.
Axa, which operates in 51 countries, also more than doubled its green target for its investment bank. It said it wants to reduce absolute emissions linked to assets in its general fund by 50% between 2019 and 2030, compared to a previous 20% goal.
Key competitor Credit Agricole is aiming to reduce absolute emissions from investment banking assets by 25%, but has not set a time frame.
On insurance policies, Credit Agricole has said it will set up teams focused on “low emission damages”.
(Reporting by Victor Goury-Laffont and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Emma Rumney)
