The Hartford has announced that it has committed to investing $2.5 billion over the next five years in technologies, companies and funds that are advancing the energy transition and addressing climate change. The company has also become a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, an agreement between organizations across the world to implement sustainability practices that advance societal goals.
“As a 211-year-old insurer and asset manager, we view the transition to a greener society as a business imperative, and we are doing our part,” said Christopher Swift, chairman and CEO of The Hartford. “We are demonstrating our environmental commitment through our actions across the business, ranging from insurance solutions that encourage sustainable construction to investments by the company in renewable energy. We are proud of our progress and remain determined to use our resources responsibly to address the challenge of climate change.”
The Hartford is one of the first property-casualty insurance companies to sign on to the UN Global Compact. The compact – the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative – unites companies across the globe to align their strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, anti-corruption and the environment.
As part of its new climate priorities, The Hartford anticipates exiting all tar-sands investments by Dec. 31 – two years earlier than the commitment announced in the company’s coal and tar sands policy released in December 2019. The company also expects to exit coal investment holdings specified in the policy by the end of 2023.
The Hartford met its goal of 100% renewable-energy source consumption for its facilities last year – a decade before its self-imposed deadline – and will continue to maintain its full-renewable status. The company will also continue to reduce select greenhouse gas emissions in order to reach a previously stated goal to reduce emissions by at least 2.1% each year, for a total reduction of 46.2% by 2037 from the baseline year of 2015.
The new priorities are the latest in a series of commitments to sustainability by the company. The Hartford first formalized a climate-change statement in 2007, and has adapted the statement to align with the fifth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
