Allianz, AXA and SCOR are the latest re/insurers to withdraw from the UN-convened Net Zero Insurance Alliance, after four peers left the alliance in the past two months. 

None of the three to announce their departure this week provided detailed reasons for it. The NZIA’s future remains uncertain after recent membership withdrawals from Swiss Re, Hannover Re, Zurich and Munich Re, but the latest blow means six out of eight founding members are no longer with the alliance. Italy’s Generali and the UK’s Aviva are the only ones going back to when the initiative was launched in July 2021. 

Following Swiss Re’s departure this week, the alliance called for urgent collaboration, not just individual actions, to tackle climate issues.

Reuters reported that this month 23 US state attorneys general told NZIA members that the group's targets and requirements appeared to violate both federal and state antitrust laws.

The NZIA is chaired by AXA’s chief risk officer Renaud Guidée. With the French insurer leaving, it is currently unclear who will take over as chair. mallowstreet has contacted the NZIA for comment. 

Germany’s Allianz confirmed it has resigned as a member but stressed that its climate change strategy and its 2050 and 2030 net zero greenhouse gas objectives remain unchanged. 

A spokesperson said: “We will continue to leverage our expertise as well as our resources to accelerate decarbonisation and ensure a fair transition to a sustainable future for the benefit of society.”

The company added it remains fully committed to the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, a similar initiative to the NZIA for investments.

AXA decided to discontinue its membership of the NZIA but added it will “continue its individual sustainability journey”.

AXA’s spokesperson said: “Under the chairmanship of AXA, the NZIA has enabled the establishment of tools and methodologies for individual companies to measure and disclose greenhouse gas emissions associated with insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios. This has been developed as open-source and made available not only to NZIA members but also more broadly.”

Meanwhile, SCOR’s departure was announced during its annual general meeting on Thursday, but the French reinsurer declined to comment further on the move. 

Swiss Re and Hannover Re recently quit NZIA without providing a reason. Zurich said it wanted to focus on resources to help customers transition to net zero, while Munich Re withdrew from the alliance citing antitrust risks.