Topic: CRISIS MANAGEMENT: AGILE DECISION-MAKING AND EXECUTION Date: May 13, 2020 Speaker: Mr. Ponciano "Kip" Mathay, Crisis Manager Panelists: Mr. Michael F. Rellosa, Executive Director, PIRA Mr. Francisco D. Papa, Jr., Executive Director, IIAP Press release

Topic: RUNNING YOUR INSURANCE: BUSINESS DURING THE LOCKDOWN Date: April 22, 2020 Speaker: Ms. Rosario “Ito” Gruet, Co-Founder & Vice President, Computer Professionals, Inc. Panelists: Mr. Michael F. Rellosa, Executive Director, PIRA Mr. Francisco D. Papa, Jr., Executive Director, IIAP Press release

The manufacturing, use and scrapping of electric cars produces around 15% to 50% more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than hybrid and conventional engine cars according to a new study conducted by the Engine Research Lab of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. The new report has challenged the claim that electronic cars are more environment-friendly than hybrid cars and conventional internal combustion engine cars. The study found that in the per kilometre analysis, the purchase, insurance and maintenance of electronic vehicles (EVs) are also costlier by 15%-60%. The study conducted in collaboration with a Japanese research organization showed that hybrid electric cars are the most eco-friendly. The study divided the cars into three categories -- two foreign categories and one Indian category-- to calculate the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the vehicles. The study found that Battery Electric Cars (BEVs) emit 15%-50% more GHGs in different categories than other vehicles. In BEVs, the battery has to be charged with electricity and currently 75% of electricity in India is generated from coal, which emits carbon-di-oxide. The study reveals that hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) emit the least amount of GHGs of the other two categories of vehicles but are more expensive than the other two categories of cars. IIT Kanpur professor Avinash Agarwal said that despite harming the environment, battery electric cars are being promoted through lower taxes and other benefits to the buyers. He said hybrid cars get one-and-a-half to twice the mileage per litre as compared to conventional engine cars. He said for personal use, a car with a conventional engine is cheaper than a battery-driven car. But a battery-driven car is more efficient for taxi operators. While hybrid vehicles are the best in terms of the environment. Source: asiainsurancereview.com

The PIRA Marine technical Committee chaired by Mr. Derrick Narvacan at work during their May 2023 Committee Meeting.

"Global companies find themselves between a rock and hard place" by Alastair Marsh The world’s biggest climate coalition for insurers have held emergency talks after a wave of defections revealed the extent to which anti-ESG rhetoric in the US is unsettling members. Signatories of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance are due to meet Thursday to discuss next steps after some of the group’s biggest members including Munich Re walked out, according to people familiar with the process who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The development follows an escalation of Republican Party attacks on businesses and investors perceived to be embracing environmental, social and good governance goals. In a May 15 letter, attorneys general representing 23 US states said they were “concerned with the legality” of the NZIA, as they blamed the group for rising insurance and gas prices, and linked the alliance to “record-breaking” inflation. The letter is the latest example of the GOP turning to antitrust rules as a lever through which to vilify ESG. GOP senators announced plans last year to fight “ESG collusion,” while House Republicans ended 2022 by launching an investigation into whether climate alliances “are violating antitrust laws.” The goal is to single out those “advancing the ESG agenda,” they said. “Global companies find themselves between a rock and hard place,” said Karl Racine, a former attorney general of the District of Columbia, who’s now a partner at Hogan Lovells. While Europe has “embraced ESG and established regulatory and legal requirements to support it,” the situation in the US is shaped by partisan politics. “Global companies are, thus, confronted with challenging questions as to how to navigate these disparate waters,” he said. The United Nations Environment Programme, which convened the NZIA in 2021, said in a statement Wednesday that the decision by some signatories to walk away from the alliance was “in light of the recent discussions within the United States.” UNEP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s meeting. NZIA, which hasn’t had any US members since being convened, has seen four major insurers walk out since the end of March. Munich Re’s defection was followed by Zurich Insurance Group AG and Hannover Re. This week, Swiss Re joined the exodus. All four have said they remain committed to climate goals, but preferred to pursue these in isolation rather than as part of the NZIA. “The biggest success of the anti-ESG movement is getting companies to talk less about ESG,” said Joshua Lichtenstein, a partner at law firm Ropes & Gray LLP in New York. “They have slowed the trajectory of ESG communications here in the US. But clearly, the pro-ESG side is still winning by a pretty large margin.” The legal foundation of the GOP’s attacks on ESG remains unclear. Sonali Siriwardena, partner and global head of ESG at Simmons & Simmons in London, said that with the AGs requesting documentation on the types of communications between NZIA members, as well as the kinds of commitments made and the factors influencing efforts to cut emissions, it now “remains to be seen how robust these allegations will be and how NZIA members will respond.” Other NZIA members have signalled they remain committed to the group. The alliance “has played an important role developing the critical standards and frameworks for insurers to meet net zero,” a spokesperson for Aviva Plc said in an emailed comment. “In light of recent developments, we are working with the UN and other members to determine the best course of action going forward. We remain fully committed to pursuing our ambition of becoming a net zero company by 2040.” For firms that remain in the alliance, “they are going to have to evaluate whether their continued participation is actually going to harm them commercially in terms of contracts from red states,” Lichtenstein said. The NZIA, which at its peak represented roughly 15% of the insurance industry’s global premiums, is one of eight climate finance coalitions within the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero of which former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney was the principal architect. In an emailed statement, UNEP said that “regardless of the situation,” it “reaffirms its conviction ever since it initiated, convened, and launched the NZIA — that in order to successfully tackle the climate emergency, there is a fundamental and urgent need for collaboration, not just individual action.” Source: insurancebusinessmag.com

InsurTech Igloo is planning to expand its offering of weather index crop insurance products in Vietnam after a promising start with rice farmers in the country. The company is now expanding its blockchain-based parametric weather index insurance to coffee farmers and is looking to cover larger plots of land. “Vietnam has got 1.5m hectares of land under cultivation for rice and around 700,000 for coffee. This year our plan is that we should be able to cover anywhere between 30,000 to 40,000 hectares of land,” said Igloo CEO and co-founder Raunak Mehta speaking to Asia Insurance Review. “In the first couple of seasons we covered anywhere between 8,000 to 10,000 hectares of land in the Mekong River delta,” The InsurTech firm began trials in November 2022 with rice farmers in the country using weather index insurance which calculates claims using pre-assigned values for losses due to extreme weather hazards like heavy rainfall. Like most parametric products, the pay-outs are automatically released to beneficiaries when the rain index hits a certain threshold. This enables faster pay-outs to farmers through blockchain smart contracts without further need for verification. “Purchasing a policy and issuing pay-outs are in fiat but policy management and claims are on the (blockchain) ledger. We are looking at more iterations of how we can make it more efficient by bringing the costs down. If you keep processing weather data, the cost goes up. If you want a decent use case of blockchain for the masses, you have to bring down the cost,” he said. The Vietnamese market produce around 11.4m bags of coffee per year and is among the top five largest coffee producers in the world. Such crops are threatened by climate change, adverse weather conditions such as extreme drought or heavy rainfall and long-term global warming which make coffee cultivation harder and the supply scarcer. “Coffee is a product that gets impacted by suboptimal rain when it’s either too high or too low. And that happened as recently as December of 2022, where three provinces in the central island got impacted. That impacts the farmer’s income. We have just recently come up with a coffee product building on top of the technology for weather index insurance based on rainfall - lack of rainfall, excess rainfall and provides coverage to the coffee plantations. We are working with quite a few cooperatives and agencies in Vietnam for the distribution,” said Mr. Mehta. Source: asiainsurancereview.com

Atty. Lawrence Mari C. Santella (Pacific Cross Insurance, Inc.) Atty. Ma. Patricia E. Foria, Chairperson of PIRA DPC and Compliance Committee (Insurance Company of North America (A CHUBB Company) Mr. Raul G. Tumangday (National Reinsurance Corporation of the Phils.)

Australia will establish a new Net Zero Authority to ensure the workers, industries and communities that have powered Australia for generations can seize the opportunities of Australia's net-zero transformation. To kick-start the authority’s responsibilities immediately, an executive agency is likely to be established from 1 July 2023 in the department of the prime minister and cabinet. The new Net Zero Authority will: Support workers in emissions-intensive sectors to access new employment, skills and support as the transformation towards net zero continues. Coordinate programmes and policies across government to support regions and communities to attract and take advantage of new clean energy industries and set those industries up for success. Help investors and companies to engage with net-zero transformation opportunities. The Australian government has a huge agenda to make Australia a renewable energy superpower. The government is rewiring the nation, investing in new renewable storage and generation capacity, revitalizing manufacturing and developing clean industries. The authority will help steer the government’s agenda to support communities, workers and industries. Its mission is aligned to the Paris Agreement and is about making sure that no one is held back as the economy changes. The authority will include a focus on regions and industries that have traditionally powered Australia’s economy. As traditional industries adapt and transform, the authority will work to ensure new industries are coming online, and workers, communities and regions are supported. It will work with the various stakeholders to proactively manage the transformation to a clean energy economy. The authority will also work collaboratively with state and territory governments, and existing regionally-focused bodies, reflecting the shared responsibility of all levels of government to support the change to a clean energy economy. Some of the core functions of the authority will include: Engaging with major regions, industries, investors and others To start to develop strategies for how the Australian government can best support positive transformation. The agency will also consult across government and stakeholders to refine the functions and powers of the authority before legislation is developed. The agency will be led by an independent chair, supported by an advisory board. Source: asiainsurancereview.com

Almost half of all employees (47%) report feeling stressed in everyday life, according to a new survey conducted by Mercer Marsh Benefits. The report 2023 Health on Demand is based on a survey of more than 17,500 employees in 16 markets across the globe about their priorities. The report said when it comes to health and well-being, employee stress is a critical issue for talent attraction and retention. When the respondents were asked what factors put them at risk for burnout at work, the top three were work pressures (54%), poor leadership (39%) and toxic culture (37%). The survey found that only 58% of employees agreed or strongly agreed that they feel free to speak their mind without fear of negative consequences. There is a discrepancy in what employers and employees think – although 88% of companies consider themselves caring (they have a supportive culture and embrace the health and safety of their people), only 66% of employees say their employers care about their health and well-being. The firm said workers in financial services companies and in construction are the most likely to believe their employers care, whereas those working in healthcare, education and retail are more likely to believe their employers fall short in this area. Mercer Marsh Benefits global advice and solutions leader Amy Laverock said, “Employees who feel cared for by their employer are more likely to report organizational leadership that is committed to a healthy culture. Work-related commitments such as embedding well-being in job design and taking action on issues such as living wages and social justice are a part of this. It also means giving employees confidence that they can afford the healthcare that they and their families need and having access to benefits that are relevant to them.” Source: asiainsurancereview.com