Metrics and Targets

Among other things, Swiss Life works with metrics and targets to assess climate-related risks and opportunities and to track progress towards the achievement of corresponding targets. Both help to ensure the future resilience of Swiss Life’s business model. Metrics communicated externally by Swiss Life also contribute to greater transparency in the financial industry.

In order to include different perspectives on climate-related issues and gain experience with metrics and measurement methods, Swiss Life compiles and uses a selection of different metrics and projections. All relevant areas of the company can thus develop their knowledge around climate-related metrics and measurement methods. In its external reporting, Swiss  Life currently focuses on climate-related metrics whose methodology is mature and recognised and which reflect both risks and opportunities for Swiss Life and their impact on relevant stakeholder groups.

Climate-related metrics and the underlying methodologies belong to a relatively young – and hence still evolving – field of research, are often complex and offer only limited comparability as yet. Moreover, climate-related metrics are based on assumptions and are thus inherently subject to model risk. An additional challenge is that there is currently no broad consensus on the methodology of climate-related metrics. The quality and availability of the underlying data are limited, which ultimately makes the climate-related metrics less meaningful.

In the area of investments, Swiss Life regularly procures climate-related metrics and climate-related projections – climate-related metrics such as from the independent providers MSCI ESG Research LLC, Bloomberg, Germanwatch and the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), and projections in particular from the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). This involves using backward-looking metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions on the one hand and forward-looking metrics and projections from scenario analyses on the other hand. In order to more easily assess its understanding of climate-related risks, Swiss Life has been participating in the Swiss Climate Test, based on the Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (PACTA), since 2017. This test is carried out by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and by the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF). Swiss Life is gradually continuing the integration of the climate scenario metrics and the further application of various transition scenarios.