Helping our customers control the weather

Climate is core business at IAG. Nineteen of the 20 largest insurance events in Australia’s history have been weather-related. Globally, five out of the 10 largest-ever insurance losses have occurred in the last two years. A warmer climate is expected to increase weather-related incidents and therefore claims, so it makes sense that IAG is focused on doing whatever it can to reduce the risk of climate change.

Four people in IAG decided that they would do just that. Paul Goldsmith , Business Development & Release Manager; Elida Touma, Brand & Community Marketing Manager; Pauline Gregg, Senior Manager, Sustainable Business Practices and Phil Woods, Sustainability Research Manager, put their heads together and developed a product called Climate Help.

Climate Help is an online tool that customers can use to offset the greenhouse emissions associated with using their car. It’s quick and easy to use and is an inexpensive way for customers and employees to mitigate their environmental damage.

“We use 100% of the money to purchase carbon credits,” says Phil. “The carbon credits are a guarantee, backed by NSW Government legislation, that an amount of carbon is being locked away in forests for 100 years."

“We insure more cars than anyone else in NSW alone, so we thought it would be a good place to start.”

Climate Help is a first step towards developing sustainable motor products, and provides customers and employees with a means to act now to reduce the risk of future climate change.

The Climate Help website provides the facts about climate change, and shows that offsetting our emissions is only part of the solution. Reducing our emissions is also key, by doing things like choosing a more fuel efficient car and selecting other forms of transport.

For more information see the Climate Help website.