KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Etiqa Insurance and Takaful said it has achieved its ambition of not insuring any new coal power generation plants in Malaysia throughout 2023 as part of its commitment to sustainability under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative.
In a statement on Friday, the insurer also said that the proportion of its equity investments with severe environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk rating dropped to 0.2% last year.
Etiqa issued the statement in conjunction with the release of the group's sustainability progress report for 2023. The insurance and takaful arm of Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) is the first Malaysian insurer to have signed up for the UN Principle for Sustainable Insurance (UN PSI) under the UNEP Finance Initiative.
The group highlighted that it has improved the livelihoods of 669,680 households from 2021 to December 2023, constituting 75% of its goal to improve the lives of 900,000 households by 2025.
"This was achieved by partnering with organisations such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in offering the i-Lindung product where EPF members can withdraw from their accounts to purchase insurance and takaful," it said.
In addition, Etiqa noted that it has offered Rahmah insurance and takaful which are micro personal accident products targeted at the mass market, and has rolled out free cancer screening programmes nationwide as part of its corporate social responsibility.
"These milestones are a testament to Etiqa's transparency and how seriously we take our role as a signatory of the UN PSI, and the impact that Etiqa wants to make in the area of sustainability," Etiqa group chief executive officer Kamaludin Ahmad said in the statement.
The initiative is a partnership between the UNEP and the global financial sector, which aims to develop insurance solutions needed to promote renewable energy, clean water and food security, among others.