ESG risk taxonomy

The taxonomy follows the themes of the UNEP FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance, a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social, and governance risks, endorsed by the UN Secretary General and launched in 2012. The specific topics were composed by Veridion in collaboration with members of the insurance industry.

📘
Where you'll see this

In ESG News and ESG Commitments, each item is tagged with esg_pillar, esg_theme, and esg_risk_criteria, using the readable labels shown in the table below (for example, "Carbon Footprint").

In ESG Scores, each of the 26 criteria appears as its own scored risk axis, keyed by a snake_case version of the same name (for example, carbon_footprint). See the axis key column below.

Pillars, themes, and risk criteria

Pillar	Theme	Risk criterion	Scores axis key
Environmental	Climate Change	Atmospheric Contamination	`atmospheric_contamination`
Environmental	Climate Change	Carbon Footprint	`carbon_footprint`
Environmental	Climate Change	Transitional Threats	`transitional_threats`
Environmental	Environmental Degradation	Mining Techniques	`mining_techniques`
Environmental	Environmental Degradation	Illegal Deforestation	`illegal_deforestation`
Environmental	Environmental Degradation	Land Contamination	`land_contamination`
Environmental	Environmental Degradation	Water Contamination	`water_contamination`
Environmental	Environmental Degradation	Water Usage	`water_usage`
Environmental	Protected Sites/Species	Effects on Protected Regions	`effects_on_protected_regions`
Environmental	Protected Sites/Species	Effects on Endangered Species	`effects_on_endangered_species`
Environmental	Unsustainable Practices	Unsustainable Energy Practices	`unsustainable_energy_practices`
Environmental	Unsustainable Practices	Unlawful Fishing	`unlawful_fishing`
Environmental	Unsustainable Practices	Plastic Contamination	`plastic_contamination`
Environmental	Animal Welfare/Testing	Illegal Wildlife Trade	`illegal_wildlife_trade`
Environmental	Animal Welfare/Testing	Habitat Quality and Medication Use	`habitat_quality_and_medication_use`
Environmental	Animal Welfare/Testing	Testing on Animals	`testing_on_animals`
Social	Human Rights	Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking	`child_exploitation_and_human_trafficking`
Social	Human Rights	Involuntary Displacement	`involuntary_displacement`
Social	Human Rights	Worker Rights	`worker_rights`
Social	Human Rights	Misbehavior by Security Staff	`misbehavior_by_security_staff`
Social	Controversial Weapons	Sensitive Weapons Involvement	`sensitive_weapons_involvement`
Governance	Bribery & Corruption	Corrupt and Unethical Transactions	`corrupt_and_unethical_transactions`
Governance	Corporate Governance	Monopoly Practices	`monopoly_practices`
Governance	Product Safety & Quality	Immoral Behaviour or Adverse Health Influence on Consumers	`immoral_behavior_or_adverse_health_influence_on_consumers`
Governance	Diversity & Pay	Inclusivity	`inclusivity`
Governance	Diversity & Pay	Wage Disparity	`wage_disparity`